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Apprentice boss defends interview methods
Wednesday 13 June 2007
Sir Alan said it would be "condescending" not to ask a mother of children with potential who was applying for a job in London from outside the capital how she would manage in practical terms.
He said it would be better to ask such a woman on the spot "how is it going to work?" rather than being "condescending" and saying nothing.
"You go and ask 100 women in the street whether they would like me to deal with it that way, or whether they would like me to be condescending, follow all the rules in an eco-friendly green office, with six human resources managers around me," he said on GMTV.
"I'll tell you what, they would all say 'you are right Sir Alan, I appreciate you asking me the question'."
He added that the requirements of the contest and the fact that the job was in London were clearly spelt out to the contestants before the series began.
Sir Alan's remarks come after he was attacked about his questioning of 31-year-old Ms Hopkins, a mother-of-two, from Exeter, Devon, who dramatically bowed out of the show last week over concerns about uprooting her family.
He is seen on the show citing her two small children in Exeter, and saying: "how is life going to be?" if she were to move to the capital.
He also warns: "I ain't opening an office in Exeter."
Ms Hopkins, also speaking on GMTV, claimed there had been a "massive edited out bit" in which Sir Alan had spoken about how good his wife is and "the fact that his wife stays at home and looks after the children properly".
But she told GMTV: "I think Sir Alan is a brilliant man. I think we had fun over the 11 weeks and I had fun with Sir Alan.
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