'The Apprentice' reject Paula hits out at 'bully' Ben

Fired ' Apprentice' contestant Paula Jones branded teammate Ben Clarke a "bully" after they clashed in the boardroom.

Jones was fired from the BBC show by Alan Sugar after he appointed her project manager of Empire and challenged the teams to make cosmetic products.

However, after Jones delegated calculating production costs to teammates Clarke, 22, and Yasmina Siadatan, 27, Empire lost to Ignite after a fatal miscalculation led to costs reaching £1,141.24 (€1,296.13). Clarke went on to deny all responsibility and a heated boardroom row ensued.

Jones said: "Ben became completely unnecessarily aggressive towards me.

"I think he took it personally that I took him into the boardroom. He accepted no responsibility whatsoever and just behaved like a child, like a bully.

"He's very, very opinionated about everybody he comes into contact with and if you're going to behave in that way you've got be pretty slick yourself and he just isn't. The lad's a no-mark. And it won't surprise me if he gets fired fairly soon, because nobody likes a bully."

"And my brother can't wait to meet him..."

The 29-year-old human resources consultant from the West Midlands has no regrets about being fired after being complimented by Sugar on her product of sandalwood and seaweed soap and her management skills.

She said: "I had a brilliant firing and you couldn't ask for any more that that.

"I was a good team manager, I've got a lot to offer, my product was fantastic.

"I'd clearly delegated the costings away - I'm aware of my own strengths and the people that I was relying on to deliver on the one area where I couldn't didn't do that for me. So it was unfortunate that I then had to pay the price for that.

"If you're going to get fired for anything then a mistake is as good as anything really. I'd rather go for that than for being a bully or a cheat or a liar."

Jones is about to launch two new businesses which she feels are tuned to the current economic crisis - a change management consultancy and an online shop selling items for interior decoration.

She said: "It's the best time to start a business. There's so much help out there available.

"Change is the only sure thing at the moment I suppose and businesses are looking to make savings through other ways rather than cutting staff or making more sales.

"And interior décor - well people aren't moving anywhere, so they're going to be looking to feather their nests where they are."

Despite being happy with her "firing", Jones insists she did enter the show hoping to win a job with Sugar.

"Of course I was in it to win, but it wasn't life and death for me," she said.

"I've got a massive sense of achievement from getting on there and being part of it. It was most important for me to be myself and enjoy myself and I did that."