Apprentice's Nick: 'Jim is a bit creepy'

Lord Sugar's advisor Nick Hewer has branded Apprentice contestant Jim Eastwood spooky, not charming. The 32-year-old sales manager from Northern Ireland has made a big impression on the show, managing to talk his way out of the boardroom and convince his rival contestants to share blame for his mistakes. But Nick isn't fooled by his Irish charm. Nick told the Radio Times: "I do not find him as charming as he thinks he is and I wish he would stop talking about his Irish charm because I'm finding it a bit spooky." He added: "I was in Belfast the other day and everyone is convinced he is going to win it - apparently he and his wife are the Posh and Becks of Cookstown, County Tyrone, where they live. "The incident with Leon in the boardroom showed me that he is a pretty manipulative character. "I personally find him a bit creepy, but he has some tremendous qualities and is definitely a contender. He is bright, articulate, quick on his feet and very self-confident - Ulster breeds a particularly strong type of chap - but I would say that accidents happen." Another contestant who has not won Nick's backing is 31-year-old recruitment manager Natasha Scribbins. He said: "She says 'yeah' after each sentence, which is very annoying, and could she please stop tensing her thighs? She always stands with her legs apart like she is about to pounce, which I find extremely disconcerting. If she worked her brain as hard as her thigh muscles she might get somewhere."

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.