One of the Birmingham candidates on The Apprentice Joy Stefanicki has claimed she was fired from the show because she didn't make "good television".

The marketing and PR director said she became the second candidate to be told to leave because she didn't shout loudly enough.

She said after her exit from the BBC1 show: "It's come across that I didn't particularly participate. The truth is that I didn't participate in the madness.

"I did participate but it probably didn't make such good television. I wasn't prepared to do it in a way that discredited myself."

She added: "I think that when you go on a show like this you have to be aware of what you are doing. I would have been naive if I didn't realise it was entertainment and business."

The 31-year-old former Deloitte employee is a well-known figure in Birmingham business circles after running her own PR firm Joyous Communications and being the public relations face of Crosby Lend Lease’s city centre Orion Building.

She said that she was fired partly for business reasons. But she said: "I was disappointed that the person who shouted the most loudly wins. That did have something to do with entertainment as well as business."

Ms Stefanicki was fired after her team - the girls led by Warwickshire development manager Laura Moore - failed to make a single sale of their product, a book stand for the beach.

Lord Sugar told Ms Stefanicki: "There are people that come into this process who think they can just step back, don't say anything and don't do anything.

"They think if they don't put their head on the chopping block they'll escape. They do not escape."

He told her: "I haven't seen anything from you and neither have my two colleagues. Joy - you're fired!"

One of Lord Sugar's advisors is former Birmingham City managing director Karren Brady.

Ms Stefanicki said she was frightened of Lord Sugar - despite his short stature and unbecoming wardrobe.

She said: "I was surprised. I didn't expect to be as intimidated by him as I was. I think part of that is that he has the celebrity angle now and because he is Lord Sugar."

Her dealings with top business people meant she was "not used to being intimidated", she said.

"Yet here is this small guy in a grey suit. When he pointed his finger at me I swear it was like it went through my whole body."

She also said it was unlikely that romance would blossom in this year's series of the hit show.

She said: "There are hot boys in there but the women are more focused on who to stab in the back next rather than who they are going to kiss."

After studying public and media relations at Cardiff University, Ms Stefanicki went on to become deputy chair of Birmingham Future and relocated to America in November 2007, where she worked for GCI Group in New York and volunteered at Free Arts NYC, which provides therapy for children.