Mike Soutar one of Lord Sugar’s trusted confidants during the final interview stage of The Apprentice on BBC1 is from Barnhill in Dundee.
The 44-year-old began his rise to publishing success as a caseroom boy on DC Thomson’s Secrets and then as the romantic magazine’s 17-year-old beauty editor. He went on to be the youngest ever editor at Smash Hits and editor-in-chief of FHM.
In the programme, contestant and “mad” inventor Tom Pellereau was rewarded for his staying power with a £250,000 deal with Lord Sugar, and Mike confessed to feeling a bit self-conscious about being on our screens.
“I don’t do a lot of TV work and I feel very self-conscious when I am on the TV,” he said. “But this was more like working for real and interviewing candidates for real but just having a camera crew there at the same time.”
He revealed Lord Sugar’s on-screen persona is no act.
“When it comes to Lord Sugar, what you see when you are watching TV is very much what you experience in real life,” Mike said.
The 44-year-old publisher and businessman who grew up in Barnhill and has many relatives in the city was impressed by the talent in this year’s show.
“I thought all four were extremely good. They were able to give good answers in an extremely pressurised situation, which was really admirable,” he said.
“But they were all determined to be as coated in Teflon as they could possibly be. They didn’t want to admit to any weaknesses in their business plans or as people.
“Of all of them, Tom was the most willing to hold his hands up to potential discrepancies. He was the most humble of a group of really talented people, and that can be a really good approach.”
Mike’s new venture “freemium” magazine ShortList appeared earlier in the series as contestants designed their own publication.
Photo Phil Adams.