 Underneath the feathers is a man of Sandhurst material
After being called a boardroom bully to becoming a piratical parrot, Ben Clarke showed a softer side in this week's Apprentice. The Belfast man, who has shown his hunger to succeed by playing hardball in the boardroom and donning spandex for the gym equipment challenge, hinted that he wasn't afraid to make a bit of an eejit out of himself. At least this time he wasn't advocating a "sex sells" approach to cereal as he did with the fitness gear. Instead the trainee stockbroker dropped his upper crust Belfast accent for a voiceover, saying: "Yaar me hearties - I'll put some adventure back into your breakfast with my tasty Treasure Flakes." In the boardroom, Sir Alan remained unimpressed by his vocal talents, commenting: "I thought I heard a rather hoarse Ian Paisley there." New Yorker Kimberly Davis left the show after Ignite's "Pants Man" cereal got the thumbs down.  | YAAR ME HEARTIES |
But possibly the biggest shock of the night was when Ben described project manager for Empire Kate Walsh as a good leader. Even the hard-nosed Sir Alan was impressed, suggesting that it would be worth Kate listing on her CV. "There's something you can put on your CV, 'Ben said I was good,'" he said. Praise from Caesar indeed. Having been drawn into a boardroom battle for the past two weeks, Ben managed to escape a grilling from Sir Alan with a week on the winning side, with Empire's parrot pirate campaign being adjudged "quite clearly the best one". Whether he will stay out next week in the rag and bone challenge is yet to be seen, though he may have picked up a few tips from his father who owns Ross's Auction House in Belfast. As the winners left for an evening's laughter therapy the Amstrad millionaire warned: "Take this time to laugh next week you come back in this boardroom - I might wipe the smile off your face."
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