"It was probably one of the best feelings."
Dr Paul Midha has become part of the final five in The Apprentice 2024.
Along with him in the group are Flo Edwards, Phil Turner, Rachel Woolford and Tre Lowe.
The 29-year-old dental practice owner delved into how he felt about reaching the important stage in Lord Alan Sugar’s business competition.
He explained: “I’m absolutely elated. It was probably one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in my life.
“Sometimes you look back in life, and you remember certain moments as being the pinnacle of an achievement that you made and that was one of them for sure.
“I remember when we were in task 10, in the boardroom, and we found out that myself, Phil, Flo, and Tre had made it into the final five by winning that task.
“I just couldn’t stop smiling and I don’t think I stopped smiling for the next few days.
“To be able to get through all ten tasks through such a rigorous process, it was just amazing.
“I know I’m representing a lot of communities like the dental community, the Punjabi community, so to be able to lift my head up high and know that I did them proud, that was an amazing feeling.”
Highlighting the difference between the 2024 final five of the show and the previous two seasons, Paul said:
“I think it goes back to the calibre of candidates selected for this year.
“I’ve been a fan of The Apprentice for quite a while. I remember watching it 14 years ago, the night before my GCSE Business Studies exam.
“The calibre of candidates has just been unbelievable.
“You have people with multi-million-pound businesses, credible people throughout the whole process so I think it ultimately boils down to the quality of the people that were selected this year.”
Paul Midha shared a behind-the-scenes anecdote from the show:
“There’s so many to pick from but to give you one. Sometimes between filming when you’re just waiting around, Tre and I would play a cheeky game of chess which would always end in a stalemate.
“I feel like it really epitomised the competitive spirit we had between us.”
The dentist continued to state that his father remains his business inspiration:
“My dad came to this country and he started working at a petrol station.
“He then started working in textiles, opened up his own business from his garage and from there he managed to create a hugely successful textile business in Bradford.
“What he always taught me was that hard work will beat talent any day of the week. He worked seven days a week, 12 hours a day.
“To be able to grow up with someone as inspirational as that, really made me value and appreciate how much graft you have to put in to make things work.
“Not everything is going to be rosy and not everything is going to go your way the first time but it’s not what knocks you down that defines you.
“It’s how you get back up. That’s something that I definitely learnt from my dad.”
Paul also expressed that one of his favourite challenges of the competition was when candidates had to create a new Formula E team.
He reminisced: “The first one was the Formula-E task.
“As a Formula-1 fan, to be able to design a car and then see it wrapped was something I never thought I’d have the chance to do.
“I was so excited to unveil the car, even if there was a tree on the front, which didn’t go down too well.
“We managed to spin it in our favour with the Indian flag colours. That was just a surreal moment for me.
“The other task would be the TV selling task. I’d never been on TV to that degree before.
“It’s a really strange experience, because with lecturing or teaching, you have an audience, but this was just straight to camera with no idea what the audience is thinking.”
When asked which challenge he would re-attempt, Paul Midha replied:
“If I could redo one task, it would be the cereal task because I knew for a fact that the polar bear was never going to hit the right age demo.
“Also, I did embarrass myself a bit when I donned the blue morph suit.
“If I could redo it, I would have chosen the space theme with a human character which I think would have hit the right age group.
“I know we would have won that task.”
Paul expressed that The Apprentice taught him how to find comfort in discomfort. He said:
“One thing that I learned is that I find being uncomfortable, comfortable.
“I realised that I work best under high-pressure situations. When the pressure is on, that’s when I turn up.
“That’s something that I didn’t previously know about myself. Now all I want is for people to give me a task.
“I found the challenge so rewarding, being pushed out of my comfort zone just makes you feel alive!
“In those moments when you’re having to do things under so much pressure and you are able to deliver results, it’s a fantastic feeling.”
The businessman divulged things he liked about his fellow Final Five candidates.
He disclosed: “Phil is like my big brother. We shared a room for the whole length of the process and had such great late-night chats.
“We really supported each other. The number one quality of any entrepreneur is resilience and Phil has shown an abundance of that in this process.
“He’s also very quick at decision-making and the best Project Manager I worked with in the process.
“Tre, what a fantastic person to be around. He has such an incredible mindset.
“I remember when I was at my lowest point in the process, he was the one that helped me pick myself back up.
“He really gave me the support to go and smash it from there, so I appreciate all the advice that he has given me along the way.
“Rachel and I used to catch the same school bus together all those years ago.
“So, to be able to see her journey from our school days together to here made me feel so proud.
“Flo is my task-wife. We had a bit of a joke about it because we did every single task together after we split from boys’ and girls’ teams.
“We always had each other’s backs and I think we kept pushing each other further and further.
“I’m really grateful to Flo for helping me grow as a candidate.”
The most recent challenge saw the candidates tasked with creating and pitching a new vegan alternative to cheese.
Paul was in the winning team, which secured 18,000 units of orders from retailers.
The Apprentice returns on Thursday, April 11, 2024, when Paul Midha and the other candidates will face interviews about their business plans.
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