One of this year's BBC The Apprentice contestants has quit the process. Theatre school owner Reece Donnelly, 25, was forced to leave the competition due to health reasons.
In this week's episode, contestants hoping to enter into business with Lord Sugar will jet off to Dubai. Glaswegian hopeful Reece, however, will not be there. His fellow candidates will be tasked with organising a corporate away day for two international clients that are based in the city.
Reece said of his surprise exit: "I could not continue in The Apprentice due to being unable to complete the task in Dubai for health reasons," but insisted he had still achieved his "goal".
Read more: BBC The Apprentice: Claude Littner health update as Lord Sugar advisor absent from latest episode
Speaking to the Daily Star, he continued: "My goal of being on The Apprentice was to showcase that Scotland has amazing businesses and entrepreneurs. I really hope I’ve done that," he added of why he wanted to take part on the show in the first place.
Reece then said: "I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time on the show and I’m looking forward to watching my fellow candidates in the rest of the series. I’m so grateful for my time with Lord Sugar and the team."
He is not the first person to quit this year's show, with Shannon Martin quitting only two episodes into the current series just before she found out her team had won a task calling it "the hardest thing she’s ever done". Read more about that here.
She explained: "Being flown to Antigua in the first week was an amazing opportunity. I loved every minute of the experience, but it is hard. When Lord Sugar says it’s the hardest interview of your life, he’s not lying. I likened it to being on SAS: Who Dares Wins, but without Ant Middleton waking you up in the morning.
"I just really felt like I couldn’t focus on the tasks because I was constantly thinking about what was going on at home. What’s happening with the business? Is everything okay?
"I knew in the back of my mind that of course everything would be okay, the team are amazing. But I’m a perfectionist. I need to know what’s going on all the time and not being able to know how things were going on at home or what was happening at work was really hard for me."
The Apprentice continues on BBC One on Thursday, February 9 at 9pm. For more showbiz and television stories get our newsletter here.
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