"Lord Sugar was just not accurate or truthful."
Dr Jana Denzel dramatically left BBC’s The Apprentice in the episode broadcast on February 27, 2025.
The task saw the candidates create a new chocolate Easter Egg.
Along with the egg and packaging, the teams also had to develop a short promotional video and secure orders from retailers.
Lord Alan Sugar appointed Jana as the Project Manager for the task, who, despite concerns from his fellow teammates, chose to create a children’s themed egg.
Jana also decided to capitalise on an element of kindness, showing that nice children deserved Easter Eggs.
However, his concept was criticised for being too similar to Christmas and the packaging did not align with the message of kindness.
His sub-team also faced scrutiny for the design of the egg. Although the taste of the chocolate was praised, its decoration did not sit well with retailers.
However, before the final results of the task were announced, Jana informed Lord Sugar of his decision to leave the process.
He said: “I’ll be honest with you – I’m not sure if I want it as bad as [the other candidates].
“So, I think whether we win or lose, I would like to step away from the process.”
Lord Sugar and the other contestants were visibly stunned, but Jana stayed to find out the results.
The cosmetic dentist’s team secured orders totalling 9,000 units.
Meanwhile, his rival team won the task with a higher total of 89,750 units.
Lord Sugar asked Jana whether he was absolutely sure of his decision to leave the competition.
Jana replied: “I am.”
Lord Sugar said: “It’s been a pleasure having you here. You seem a stand-up fellow. I wish you well.”
Surprisingly, Lord Sugar later announced his decision not to eliminate anyone else from the losing team as he felt that the failure of the task was entirely down to Jana.
Off-screen, Jana Denzel opened up about why he quit The Apprentice. The dentist claimed that it was one of Lord Sugar’s comments which prompted him to leave.
He explained: “If you’ve been watching the series so far, you would have seen in Episode Four, Lord Sugar says to me, ‘You’ve been very, very quiet throughout the process’.
“That one line is really what hit me because, in Task One, I did both in negotiations and set a record of The Apprentice history at 48%.
“Task Two, you don’t see it, but Anisa [Khan] puts me in charge of negotiations.
“I overcome with objections, and I do all the work there for us to win the task.
“Task Three is my best episode yet but I just get a 10-second camera feature.
“It was my best in negotiation and Liam [Snellin] put me in charge of doing negotiation there.
“So I felt that comment from Lord Sugar was just not accurate or truthful at all.
“I told myself, ‘Look, you know what, a business partnership is like a marriage. You’ve got to be a great fit for both parties’.
“And at that point, if Lord Sugar can’t see all the positive contributions I’ve made throughout the show when all my candidates can because it wasn’t me that branded myself the king of negotiations – that was other candidates saying it in the boardroom to Lord Sugar.
“So when he said, ‘You call yourself that’, I did say, ‘I don’t, but okay’.
“I felt like if [Lord Sugar is] gonna say that I’ve been very quiet when I’ve been given 100% my whole time, I just don’t think me and him are a great fit.
“So it was at the end of Episode Four where I already made up my decision to leave the process.”
Jana also divulged an altercation he had with Lord Sugar.
He continued: “There were other signs that Lord Sugar and I weren’t a good fit.
“In Episode Three, what you all don’t see is I put myself forward for being PM.
“But Carlo [Brancati] and Max [England] do — and they both have a little rivalry.
“I said, ‘I’m gonna step back. Everyone, we all say Carlo doesn’t do anything. Let’s give Carlo a chance, okay? Let him be PM’.
“So I backed out and then no one ended up choosing Carlo anyway because they didn’t trust him.
“But in the boardroom, Lord Sugar goes to me: ‘Who does something such as putting themselves forward and backing out, right?’
“And I said, ‘Listen, Lord Sugar, I’ll explain why I did that. You know, everyone over here saying Carlo doesn’t contribute, but I thought if him putting himself forward is that. I know I’ve done really well in the first few tasks here. I’ve done the best negotiations’.
“I said to him, “I know I’m going to be here for a long time, so I’ve got my chance to be PM later down the line. Let Carlo have his go’.
“Then Lord Sugar was like, ‘Oh, Jana, you’re very modest, aren’t you?’
“And I said, ‘Lord Sugar, I’m not trying to sound arrogant but I’m just saying on the paper, if you look at the first three tasks, I’ve done one performing here in terms of numbers. I know I’m gonna let Carlo have his moment here’.
“He looked at Karren [Brady] and Tim [Campbell] and nodded his head.
“I thought, ‘Wow, I just put a target on my back by saying that’.
“Because it didn’t come across the way I wanted to come across.
“I was just trying to explain my reasoning of why I backed out but I felt from there it left a bit of a sour taste in Lord Sugar’s mouth.
“He felt I was a bit arrogant or not humble.
“So I think from there to Episode Four, it went a little bit downhill in his impression of me.”
Jana went on to claim that the BBC bosses begged him to stay on The Apprentice.
He stated: “I told the producers after Episode Four, ‘Look man, I don’t think this is for me’.
“They said, ‘No, no, no, Jana, just give it a go – you’re PM’.
“When I was PM, I did tell my team, ‘Guys, win or lose, I’m walking away but we just have fun with it’.
“It was the most fun I’ve had in the task. I told them I’m not going to throw anyone on the bus and I did say when I left, ‘I’m proud of everyone’s contributions’.
“It was a shame because Episode Five was the first time where Lord Sugar was actually giving me praise in the boardroom.
“He said I made the right choices by going with a milk chocolate, kids’ classic Easter egg.
“Then, when Lord Sugar asked my team how I did, they all said I was a great PM.
“He was like, ‘Right, are you happy now? You’ve got the recognition you wanted?’
“I thought that was the perfect time to drop my resignation.
“I had proven myself to him and I was like, ‘OK, that’s done now. Thank you very much. I’m out’.”
Jana concluded by saying that he had been in touch with Steven Bartlett from Dragon’s Den.
Jana said: “After resigning, I got told from some people that Lord Sugar liked my business plan.
“One of the producers was like, ‘I’ll put it forward to him anyway and see what we could do’.
“But I didn’t have any direct conversation with Lord Sugar himself.
“From the moment I walked out the boardroom, the next day I went to my clinic and I started scaling it up.
“Steven Bartlett is a very popular guy. I rent my dental rooms from him. I told him what happened on The Apprentice.
“He was like, ‘Send me your business plan’.
“He put me in touch with his investment manager at the time, Danny Gray.
“I’m in the middle of doing some deals with Danny and we’re taking it to the next level from here.”
It was earlier rumoured that Jana Denzel had been asked to leave allegedly due to a racism controversy.
Apparently, the businessman had used the term ‘coloured’ to describe a character that his team were producing.
However, the BBC denied that this was the case.
Before The Apprentice began airing, Jana said: “Lord Sugar is known for making smart, bold investments.
“My business has the potential to disrupt and transform the UK dental industry.
“If he wants to be part of something that will leave a lasting impact on this sector, investing in me and my business is a no-brainer.”
The Apprentice continues on Thursday, March 6, 2025, where the remaining candidates will run corporate away-day experiences in Türkiye.
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