Hampshire’s own Apprentice star has spoken of his “crazy” journey after being booted out of the BBC reality show.

Sohail Chowdhary, 28, was eliminated from The Apprentice on the show’s seventh episode after his team’s pirate-themed treasure chest lunchbox failed to impress industry experts.

Sohail owns the martial arts franchise AG Martial Arts with locations in Southampton, Bournemouth, and Portsmouth. His televised sacking meant losing out on an investment of £250,000 from Lord Alan Sugar in his business.

Speaking after Thursday night’s episode, he told of the pressure he and his teammates were under while taking part in the challenge to make a lunchbox for children aged six to eight.

His team's design was described as "cringey" - by a child.

He said: “The lunchbox is awful, no matter what way you put it. It's really bad. But it's one of those things where you're under time pressure as well because, in the real world, you have all this time to be able to create something in the process.

“I can't remember how long we actually had, but it was probably about, like 20 minutes or half an hour to actually create a large box."

The 28-year-old business owner described the first scene as a "whirlwind" as he went about completing the first challenge.

He said: “You're in the reception area, you go into the boardroom, you're there talking to them [Alan Sugar and the business associates], and next thing you know, you're off to Antigua and Barbuda.

"It's just nuts with all these brand-new faces. It's a whirlwind and a half."

He has been making the most of meeting fans and people who recognise him on the street.

He said: “Going to town and stuff, people do kind of like they give me the odd looks, even people just walking around just now as well, but they're quite scared to come up to me sometimes.

“It's quite funny to see, but when you go to places like Birmingham and London, people will come up to you.”

He has wasted no time and has gone back to managing his business.

He added: "My focus is in making use of the exposure, I want to be taking my martial club across the UK and that is where my focus will be on."