Contestant quit to avoid 'whipping' from Sir Alan

THE MAN who quit the new series of The Apprentice hours before meeting Sir Alan Sugar said today he was scared of being "whipped silly" in the boardroom.

Adam Freeman walked out of the show leaving fellow contestants on the BBC1 show shocked and prompting an angry outburst from Sir Alan, 61.

But the 31-year-old said he would have got a hard time from the entrepreneur and former Amstrad boss because he was so similar to him.

Both are Jewish, left school at 16 and live in Chigwell, Essex. "We would be like two peas from the same pod," he said.

"I'm up for a bit of pressure but he would have whipped me silly." He added: "I knew I would win it so I would be away for 12 weeks. It could have been hell. Let's face it - working for Sir Alan is no stroll in the park."

Mr Freeman, who has two children, made his first million at the age of 25 by selling ringtones. He now runs a loans website.

The 15 remaining hopefuls will compete with a cleaning task on the new series which starts tonight at 9pm.