The first Apprentice candidate to be fired has revealed she kept Lord Sugar's decision a secret from her family. Emma Rothwell has become the first exit from the latest series of the hit BBC business competition as it returned to screens tonight. She had hoped to secure Lord Sugar's £250,000 investment but unfortunately fell short of the prize money. The first task saw the 18 entrepreneurs head abroad as they tried to show off their skills.

They are expected to spend weeks away from their families and home lives as they get stuck into the competition. In preparation for the series, Emma came up with an elaborate cover story for where she was. Speaking to the Mirror, Emma said: "You are allowed to tell a couple of people but I had to come up with a whole cover story for where I was. "Luckily, or unluckily, I was first out so nobody noticed! They all believed my cover story." Revealing what she told her friends and family, Emma explained: "It was about a week and I told people that I was setting up my company in America. I gave my phone to my boyfriend and he pretended to be me. We had to do a lot of training!".

Emma revealed she was planning to watch her first and only episode with her friends and family and have a watch party. She added: "They don't know it will be their first and only watch party, so I will have to see their reactions." Opening up on what it was like being the first contestant to leave, Emma admitted: "It was so sad. "I was so sad because every person since the announcement that I am in it, have said 'you are made for this'. And I am, I just didn't get the task I was made for with my experience. I am good at the branding and marketing. I just didn't get the opportunity to show it. I was just trying to find my feet, but there's no time to find your feet in that process.".

Emma, who owns personalised mug company Quirky Giraffe, had mixed feelings while in the boardroom as she wasn't sure which way Lord Sugar would go. Speaking of his decision and the one thing she wishes she would have done differently, Emma told us: "It could have been the vast majority of us and my final speech, I didn't realise it would be my final speech. "I went first and so when I heard the other two, I was like 'oh no'. You could probably see in my eyes. So then I saw it coming but it could have been any one of us." If she could do anything differently, Emma admitted it would have been her final speech. "My negoations nearly rescued us and was a big part of the task, why that didn't come out of my mouth.".