Navid Sole claims he wanted to "hurt himself" after a fellow 'Apprentice' contestant made his "life hell".
Navid Sole was on The Apprentice
The 27-year-old pharmacist - who was fired from the show on Thursday's (19.01.22) episode - asked to move rooms in the house the hopefuls all share in a bid to get away with his business rival but admitted he didn't tell producers how low he was feeling in case he was removed from the show completely.
He told a friend: “There were two or three times I wanted to hurt myself because I didn’t know what to do.
“I didn’t want to share these feelings with the producers because I was scared they would eliminate me from the process. The bullying affected my performance on the whole show...
“They could see I was distressed and moved me. I told them many times that my performance was being affected. They would basically give a pat and say don’t worry.”
Navid was particularly unhappy with how producers reacted when he broke down in tears following the first task.
He said: “We were in the losers’ café and I encountered bullying which felt encouraged by some of the other contestants.
“They were gang-handed. It was terrible the way I was spoken to. The person was calling me a clown, a snake.
“I felt they had a problem because I wasn’t more of a lad, but that’s not me – I’m a soft, sensitive person who wants to get along with everyone.
“It reminded me of the backlash I got at school and college when I was bullied. They were rude to everyone.
“Two others were sniggering. I was shocked and upset. I was crying really heavily, the intensity was crazy.
“The other contestants saw that I felt uncomfortable. When producers saw I was in pain they put the camera in front of me rather than saying, ‘He’s upset, we should intervene’. Nobody thought to give me a break even though it was clear I was really hurting.
"That moral support wasn’t there. The episode was edited to show me drinking coffee when actually I was in distress. I watched it alone and cried because it gave me flashbacks.”
Harry Mahmood, who was fired in the first episode, said he had also reported the "rude and aggressive" candidate.
He told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: “My bone of contention was the way they spoke to me – with aggression, anger.
“They kept attacking me and singling me out. Nav started crying based on the way [the contestant] was talking to him. Myself and another contestant said don’t cry, but nobody stopped filming until someone said, ‘That’s enough now guys, moving on’.
“I was annoyed. In real life if someone talks to me like that I don’t let it be. I got bullied at school and want to stand up for those it happens to.
"When I got fired I mentioned to a member of the team that I was not happy with how this person spoke to me – it was rude and aggressive. They said they’d speak to them.”
The BBC insisted mental health and wellbeing of candidates is a priority for the show and that Navid did not make an official complaint or confide in them that he wanted to hurt himself.
A spokesperson for the show said: “Wellbeing of candidates is of paramount importance. Thorough and robust duty of care protocols include an experienced network of support before, during and after filming.
“All contributors agreed to a code of conduct to protect and prioritise welfare. These allegations are unsubstantiated and do not reflect the measures put in place.”