He may not have won The Apprentice.
But former market trader Adam Corbally has ended up on top after being voted the viewers' favourite candidate on the business reality show.
This week Adam was at the Dearne ALC, helping launch the schools' employability award and encouraging enterprise amongst students.
The 33-year-old Derbyshire-born businessman was leading assemblies at the Goldthorpe school all morning and then spent the afternoon appearing in the school's own version of Dragon's Den.
Known for his endearingly excitable nature and his pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap approach to business, Adam topped a shortlist of 20 of the best candidates acrossthe series.
He snatched the win from under the noses of series eight winner Ricky Martin –the professional wrestler-turned recruitment manager and series seven champion Tom Pellereau, the chic geek and inventor of the curved nail file.
“I’m really, really pleased,” Adam Corbally said.
“It’s funny me and Ricky were so close in the vote – because we’re really close in real life, we’ve just booked speaking engagements in Vegas together, and we had a really close rivalry on the show but we're also close on a personal basis.
“In the end, there was nothing in it – I won by just a whisker.”
So how does Corbally explain his popularity with Apprentice viewers?
“It helps being the down-to-earth one," he says. "Although a lot of the candidates are funny to watch, not many people can relate to them, so I hope I came across as the relatable one.
So does being named the most popular Apprentice candidate take the edge off not having won the show itself?
“I’ve got no hard feelings about not having won The Apprentice. I’ve got this award, last year I got nominated for best reality TV personality as well, so it’s been one big opportunity for me since I left the process."
