'Apprentice' rivals on winner Ricky Martin: 'I thought he was a t**t'

Published Jun 3 2012, 23:35 BST  |  By Alex Fletcher

The Apprentice finalists have given their verdict on this year's winner Ricky Martin to Digital Spy.

Runners-up Tom Gearing, Nick Holzherr and Jade Nash have sung the praises of Lord Alan Sugar's new business partner. However, they admitted that the part-time wrestler didn't make the greatest of first impressions during the process.



"When I first met Ricky I wasn't that impressed to be honest and I thought he was a bit of a t**t if I'm being honest," Holzherr told Digital Spy.

"However, when I got to know him, I realised what a nice guy he is. He's one of the most down-to-earth guys in the process, one of the most intelligent and he's very articulate.

"I think Ricky was a credible candidate to win and I think his journey over the series was what won him it. Congratulations to Ricky, he totally deserves it."

Nash said: "I never worked with Ricky. I was never on his team throughout the process. That final boardroom was the first time we saw each other close up and he said I was quite good. He said, 'Oh, you did very well. I wouldn't mind working with you!'

"He's a really nice guy. I haven't got a bad word to say about him to be honest. All that 'reflection of perfection' rubbish at the start of the show doesn't really show him off very well. He's a caring, nice guy and he's very honest."

Gearing, who finished runner-up, added: "If I was going to lose to anyone, I wanted to lose to Ricky. He's a fantastic candidate, we've got on really well and I think he's going to be a huge success.

"I'll send him some wine to show there's no hard feeling!"