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What is said to be the real reason behind a candidate dramatically quitting The Apprentice has reportedly been revealed.
Dr Jana Denzel walked out of the boardroom last week, giving up his place in the competition and chance of winning a £250,000 investment.
The dentist previously said a ‘really hurtful’ comment from Lord Alan Sugar had led to his exit, but it’s now been claimed there was more to it.
It had also been reported he’d been accused of using racist language in one incident, and was asked to take part in diversity training by producers. The next day, Dr Jana left of his own accord.
The ‘real reason’ behind his exit has now reportedly been revealed, with a source saying the candidate felt as though he was being ‘set up to fail’.
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‘Jana felt that he was being tripped up in tasks designed to make him look bad,’ an insider alleged.
‘He understands reality TV has to be about entertainment, but was unhappy about how unfair and staged it felt.
‘He raised concerns to the production staff, expecting some support, but felt that he was shrugged off and instead warned about being disruptive to the integrity of the show.’
The source added to The Sun that this ‘first sparked Jana’s interest in walking away’, continuing: ‘He felt he had been labelled as troublesome and misbehaving for speaking out to production against the way filming was taking place, and that this all weighed heavily on him.
‘Not only this, he felt his contributions to the tasks were repeatedly being brushed over in the boardroom, leading to him questioning whether he and Lord Sugar would be aligned in working together.’
During last week’s episode, after Dr Jana was ordered to be project manager by Lord Sugar and lost an Easter Eggs challenged after their space-themed chocolate creation failed to impress, he declared he was stepping away from the process.
As he departed the boardroom, Lord Sugar said: ‘It’s been a pleasure having you here… you seem a stand-up fellow, I wish you well.’
He later told the PA news agency that he thought he ‘performed really, really well’, until episode four when ‘Lord Sugar said to me, “You’ve been really, really quiet since the last few weeks”.
‘And that just registered in my head. I was like… and I did say this as well, but I didn’t get a chance to speak… “I’ve been one of the best performing candidates here for the last few weeks, I’ve been really giving it 100% and all of myself.
‘”But you just say that I’ve been really, really quiet is really hurtful.”
‘That moment onwards, I looked at him and I was like, you know what? Maybe this just isn’t a great fit, then, because if I’m positively contributing and giving 100% of myself, and you’re saying, “I’m really, really quiet, and you haven’t seen much from me,” then I don’t think this is going to work.
‘So, I actually made my decision in that boardroom at the end of episode four, and I said to the producers as well, I don’t think this is (going to) work… or be a great fit for me… because I don’t like how that was going down.’
Dr Jana also addressed the allegations he had used racist language in a video on TikTok, after claims he was spoken to about an ‘ill-informed’ remark he made about a character the team were digitally creating during a task – which saw production staff tell him his ‘use of language was not acceptable’.
He told his followers that he’d been advised ‘not to say anything’ but wanted to clarify what had happened and ‘set the record straight’.
‘On one of the tasks, I was in charge of creating a character for a particular industry I don’t often see people like me being represented in,’ he explained.
He said he made the comment ‘with positive intent’, adding: ‘My entire motivation behind this character and the pitch around it was so we can see more diversity in that industry, particularly reflecting people that look like me.’
Dr Jana was told by one of the other candidates at the time that he used the ‘wrong choice of words’, and was told to correct himself and say ‘character of colour’.
‘I apologised, changed what I said, and carried on,’ Dr Jana said.
He added that he wasn’t ‘reprimanded’ by producers, and after filming the series they got in touch to tell him of his ‘ill-informed choice of wording’.
He was offered training which he took up, saying he ‘now has a better understanding of the use of that word’.
He added: ‘It had nothing to do with the reason of why I decided to leave the show, the timeline doesn’t make sense.
‘I left the show, they finished filming the series, and after that they called me in, speak to me about my use of the ill-informed word and offered me more training.
‘I wasn’t reprimanded or forced to do training, it was completely my choice and happened well after we finished filming.’
Several co-stars shared their support for him in the comments, with Liam Snellin writing: ‘We support you.’
Carlo Brancati wrote: ‘You’re great bro,’ while Nadia Forbici added: ‘Full support dear hope your ok xxx.’
Melica Moshiri also wrote: ‘You have our support,’ as Frederick Afrifa said: ‘Got your back bro.’
Content creator Amber-Rose Badrudin added: ‘Always got your back bro, I understand first hand how this must feel, you got this.’
Metro has approached The Apprentice and Dr Jana’s rep for comment.
The Apprentice continues on Thursdays at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
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