Optical tycoon knocked out of 'Apprentice'

Optical tycoon Gavin Winstanley has become the latest contestant to get the push from BBC1’s 'The Apprentice' – and he admitted he did not see it coming.

The hopeful was put out of the frame by Lord Sugar after his team lost the weekly challenge by a tiny margin of just £8 (€9).

But Winstanley branded the business guru’s decision to get rid of him “a mistake”.

The 27-year-old from Liverpool was project manager for the third task, in which the two teams competed against each other to obtain 10 different items, including loose leaf tea and chandelier candles, for the opening of the Savoy Hotel in London.

But Winstanley came under Lord Sugar’s lens after what he admitted was a “poor team performance” from team Logic – and a gaffe which saw him inquire about buying a top hat from a dry cleaners.

His team narrowly missed out on winning the task by spending £1,389.20 on just six out of 10 items on the list, while rival team Venture got hold of nine out of 10 items and spent £1,381.69.

The businessman – on the losing team for the third time – chose colleagues Vincent Disneur and Zoe Beresford to face the boardroom showdown with him, accusing Disneur of winding up his female colleagues and Beresford of acting like Disneur’s PA.

But Lord Sugar fired Winstanley, admonishing him for his bad leadership and time-keeping.

After getting the boot, the business hopeful said he was “gutted” about the decision, adding that he felt Lord Sugar was making a mistake in firing him rather than “ultra confident” Disneur.

Winstanley, who was hoping to expand his designer glasses business 123 Glasses with Lord Sugar, tipped rivals Helen Milligan, Jim Eastwood and Susan Ma to go far in the competition, saying of Ma: “She’s got a lot of bottle for a 21-year-old.”