IT’S taken ten weeks and countless nail-biting meetings with Sir Alan Sugar to get this far.

But Hampshire’s high-flying Kate Walsh is on the verge of landing a £100,000 salary in his business empire after reaching the final of The Apprentice.

All that stands in her way now is arch rival Yasmina Siadatanin who she will take on Sunday night (June 7) on the TV show’s finale.

For their final task the pair must impress Sir Alan by designing and manufacturing a new box of chocolates.

Many residents in Alresford will recognise the 27-year-old blonde bombshell after she spent almost two years living in the quiet Georgian town.

But for Kate, who branded her fellow contestants a “bunch of squabbling turkeys”, the job seems almost in the bag.

She said: "My CV speaks for itself. I've always excelled academically and I have really achieved within a corporate environment across sales, marketing and a number of different aspects of business."

Her success today is a far cry from the Staffordshire-born lass’s first job. At the age of 16 she served up fish and chips at the Pye Green Fish Bar in Cannock, Staffordshire.

After graduating from Blake High School she went on to gain a first class honours degree in Psychology and Management at Aston University, Birmingham.

Kate then joined a graduate trainee programme at Marston’s brewers six years ago and rose up the ranks to become a marketing executive and then a Business Development Manager. She worked at Starbucks for the last three years before quitting to appear on the show.

The final episode of the Apprentice airs Sunday June 7 at 9pm on BBC1.