SOUTH Cheshire’s hopeful on the recent hit TV show The Apprentice has revealed it was death of her father that inspired her to go on the show.

Now back home in Arclid, Zoe Beresford, 26, has had time to reflect on her 11 dramatic weeks of high-pressure challenges and boardroom battles.

She said: “It was OK but really nothing like you expect it to be.

“The show is heavily edited and there are so many restrictions on what you can do and where you can go.

“The experience is a lot different to what you see on TV.”

Zoe crashed out of the show after her team was whitewashed in a task to create and promote a new biscuit — which achieved zero sales.

Zoe said: “It is intimidating in the boardroom but you just have to do what you went in there to do.

“It was a shame to go out but I think I was pretty exhausted by that point and was glad to go home.

“I probably enjoyed the pet food challenge the best and Lord Sugar did say that I had saved that task although that was edited out.”

Zoe seemed to have a slow start to the series but gradually grew in confidence, becoming increasingly forthright as the weeks passed.

Zoe said: “It wasn’t a strategy. In fact that’s down to the editing really.

“They couldn’t show lots of people at the start like Helen and myself who go on to the end of the show, as it’d just be about those people.”

Asked whether she got on with her fellow contestants, Zoe said: “It’s like in life really, there are some people you like and some you don’t.

“I wouldn’t say the show has helped me, but I have made a couple of good friends as a result.

“I do get recognised in the street now but I don’t mind that, I smile and have my photo taken.

“Everyone has been so supportive and positive, it is only the people that hide behind their computer screens who have been negative.”

Asked how she coped with the intense pressure of the show, Zoe said: “You just have to be yourself.

“There’s no point trying to be something you’re not as you’d never keep it up for that length of time.”

Zoe remained tight-lipped about her business plans, only saying that she still work in the drinks industry.

Asked what inspired her to go on the show in the first place, Zoe said: “It was the death of my father.

“I just thought, I could die tomorrow, why not? Of course I never thought I would be selected to actually go on it.

“It was certainly an experience.”