[Red Moon]

Sacked from The Apprentice, the BBC radio presenter who left his wife for a shot at stardom

He boasted he did not even know how to say the word 'loser' and despite being booted off The Apprentice after just three weeks, contestant Ian Stringer is more cocky than ever.

Now Stringer, who is a local radio sports presenter for the BBC, is saying Gary Lineker's time fronting Match of the Day is up and that the industry veteran should make way for him.

He said Lineker should “move on” and bragged he was the ideal candidate to take over the slot.

Stringer is now a full time presenter at Three Counties Radio, but was part time when he initially applied to the show.

The BBC came under fire for allowing one of its own staff to appear on the show, given that thousands battle for a spot on the show each year, but insisted that none of its editorial guidelines had been broken by allowing him on the show.

Last month, Stringer's wife told of how he walked out on her and the couple's two children for a shot at stardom.

Stringer, 26, yesterday insisted that he was still "a winner" despite being told "you're fired" by Sir Alan Sugar at such an early stage in the competition after the boys team lost the catering challenge while he was leader.

The team took the most money providing pub food but allowed their costs to spiral out of control, resulting in them making less profit than the girls, who opted for a Bollywood style menu.

Sugar was furious at the situation telling the boys team: “What annoys me, about this loss, is this is the epitome of blowing in to the wind.

"You went out and took £844, you actually worked hard, you were beavering away, an what was the end result? "Nothing really because you made fatal errors, that's what annoys me.”

While Stringer chose to bring in colleagues Kevin Shaw and Smith, Sugar turned on him saying: “This was a total disaster.

"Quite frankly I think you lost it. Ian, You're Fired!”

Stringer admitted: “I'm gutted but I still feel I am a winner. I beat 20,000 applicants to make it to the last 16.”

He also dismissed claims by the two contestants already ejected from the show Shazia Wahab and Nick de-Lacey Brown that bullying was rife.

“It's a show where you have to make difficult decisions and do what you need to, to win but there was no bullying.”

He tipped either Helene Speight to win saying that Sugar "trusted her" or sales manager Lee McQueen because he had the "right attitude".

Stringer refused to comment or defend himself against claims by his estranged wife that he had left her and his children homeless and destitute to appear on the reality show.

Former partner Kirsty alleged that he left her for mistress Angela Rawson just weeks after giving birth to their second child and that only paid the mortgage on the flat once when he was on the show, forcing her to sell the property because she fell into arrears.

Source:Daily Mail

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