Donald Trump's NBC hit The
Apprentice has crossed the pond, where Sir Alan Sugar calls the
shots and sacks contestants unfit for duty. The latest to get cut
was Mona Lewis, a former Tanzanian beauty queen, amid allegations of
homophobia.
Billionaire entrepreneur and media
personality Sugar began his Trump impersonation in 2005, when BBC Two
aired the first season of The Apprentice UK.
This week's firing came amid
allegations of homophobia.
Twenty-eight-year-old Lewis grumbled
along when her team was tasked to revitalize the sagging tourism
industry of the seacoast town of Margate. The group lost the task
with the idea of attracting gay and lesbian tourists, and Lewis was
blamed for her salty demeanor.
After losing the task, fingers were
pointed at Lewis, and she returned to the boardroom to face Sugar.
While Trump's boardroom might hearken
back to train titans of the past with wood paneling and mood
lighting, Sugar holds court in a minimalist modern setting.
And that's where she said it: Lewis'
defense for not supporting her team and the concept of gay tourism
was that she had “spoken to a gay person.” In fact, Lewis did
manage a conversation with a transgender person at a local gay bar –
looking tragically uncomfortable.
Sugar disagreed and fired the beauty
queen.
Speaking to the Daily Mail,
Lewis said she lost because she's “boring” and is supportive of
gay people. “At the end of the day, it's the people all around me
that I care about the most. I do have a lot of gay friends.”