Not so sweet for Sugar: Katie Hopkins upstaged her boss in The Apprentice. Photograph: BBC/Talkback.
Katie Hopkins - alpha female, good on you!
Ms Hopkins has become the outspoken star of the business show, The Apprentice. Last night, she bowed out rather than go on to the final in a supreme moment of well-calculated brinkmanship. I always suspected her motivation was not a job in Sir Alan Sugar's boardroom. She has her sights set much higher. Her acerbic asides to camera through the series appear to have been directed at a wider audience. A media career now beckons.
I hope Katie ends up running a big company - an ambition she revealed in last night's show. She also admitted the extent of her ruthlessness. She stole another woman's husband because she wanted him, and she rated that an 8 out of 10 on the scale. How much further would she go?
But you don't get to the top in business - or any area of public life for that matter - without being ruthless.
Many profess to be shocked by Katie's naked ambition. But is that because it is so unusual in a woman? I believe that many women do not get to the top because they are far too nice. It is interesting to note that out of the three women running FTSE 100 businesses, two of them, Marjorie Scardino at Pearson and Cynthia Carroll at Anglo American, are from the US where it is more acceptible for women to show their go-getting side.
Katie is clearly bright, interesting and outspoken. You can't say that about some of the grey men at the top of British business today. Way to go, girl - I am right behind you.
