The Apprentice’s Jonny Heaver has revealed the hardest thing about starring on the BBC hit show – and it will no doubt surprise you.

Fans were gutted when the 23-year-old, who owns business Achieve Tutoring, was the fifth contestant to be booted off the show earlier this month. 

And while the entrepreneurs have to thrive in a high-pressure environment, think on their feet and sometimes throw their pals under the bus in the boardroom, shockingly, none of these challenges are what Jonny found the trickiest to deal with. 

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline about his time in the process, Jonny said: ‘Food was the thing I found most difficult being honest, because I don’t know about you, but I just love buying the food I want to buy. 

‘Yeah, and obviously you can’t, like, I go around a supermarket and I don’t really think… “I’ll have that, and that”.

‘You know, you don’t have that autonomy of choice in the show…

The Apprentice’s Jonny Heaver reveals ‘really frustrating and difficult’ struggle in BBC house that was completely hidden from show

Fans were gutted when the 23-year-old, who owns business Achieve Tutoring, was the fifth contestant to be booted off the show earlier this month

 ‘So they stock the fridge for you, but you’re always like, “Oh, I wish I had that. I wish I had that. I wish I had that”.

‘But Mia did become the resident cook, so she did quite a lot of cooking in the house, which I was very grateful for. 

‘You just kind of, when it comes to cooking, you’re just kind of, just kind of like, “I wish I had that”, and you just can’t go to the shops. 

‘I find that really frustrating. But then also, after a task, some tasks are so long…

‘So like, for virtual pop star, week two, I think that was our longest day. 

‘We woke up crack of dawn. We honestly finished at 11pm at night. 

‘So on nights like that, they just brought a Nandos in, which was great. Lots of Nandos as well.

‘But then lots of like, Kit Kats and Fanta on tasks as well to keep you going throughout the day. 

Jonny told MailOnline: ‘Food was the thing I found most difficult being honest, because I don’t know about you, but I just love buying the food I want to buy’

‘So I wouldn’t say food was the highlight. I can’t lie.’ 

And because of how busy they were with the tasks, at times, Jonny admitted that he didn’t even really want to eat. 

He explained: ‘On task we always got food as well, and we always got lunch.

‘But obviously you never really know what time it is in the show either. 

‘Yeah, so just sometimes you didn’t want it, you know, you’re so tired and you’re so distracted by the task, the last thing you actually want to do is eat.

‘We did get fed, don’t get me wrong, it just wasn’t the highlight of the whole show.’ 

But when the teams did stop for a bite to eat during the day, they also had to follow one strict rule – which actually allowed the cast to get to know each other. 

Jonny explained: ‘We can’t talk over lunch about task either because obviously they need everything on camera. 

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‘If we made a plan over lunch about what we were going to do, they wouldn’t get that on camera. 

‘So it’s really important that we don’t talk about tasks. 

‘So we tried to talk about the weather, talk about our family and that sort of thing over lunch as well, which is quite nice.’

Although Jonny didn’t manage to bag a partnership with Lord Alan Sugar, his business is thriving and has plenty to look forward to. 

The star started his tutoring business during his first year at university after realising that others were earning more than him while working for a big corporate tutoring agency in London. 

Before the show Jonny’s team consisted of 25 people, but now they are a team of 36.

Jonny told us: ‘I feel like what the show does goes so much beyond whether or not you secure that £250k investment, like the exposure it’s got for my business has just been fantastic. 

‘Being honest, it’s been really nice to have a week where there’s not quite so much going on socially, so I can actually lock in and just focus on growing that business, on the aftermath, because I feel people really do underestimate the exposure it gives you. 

‘Like, for example, I’d watch the episodes, and then I’d log on the next morning, and during that hour when people were watching, I had like, nearly 100 parents at times like, inquire about sessions for their children. 

‘So it’s absolutely wild what the show gives you.’  

Just days before hearing the dreaded words ‘You’re fired’, Jonny also opened up to fans about his facial birth mark, after a fan on TikTok asked him: ‘What’s happened to your face?’

He told his followers that he was born with a giant melanocytic naevus and had surgery to remove it, which left some scaring on his face. 

Jonny has gone on to have skin grafts and tissue expansion to make his eye a better shape, which is why he has scarring and his birth mark.  

The entrepreneur’s 2025 is looking very busy with exciting business ventures, and working to raise awareness for people with facial differences. 

Opening up about the upcoming year, he told us: ‘So I’m very business focused, so it’s absolutely trying to secure investment from elsewhere, and growing my business. 

‘But as well as that, I’ve already got so many kind of projects coming up, about whether tutoring as well, but also about partnering with charities, about facial differences which is super exciting as well, and I’m really excited to explore that more. 

‘It might be that I don’t know very early stages, but I’d love to create some sort of network, or some sort of community, which might, you know, support each other. 

‘But also it could be kind of a networking thing as well for people with slight facial differences, and I think that could be great.

‘Also I’m doing a big presentation at Tutor Fest this summer, which is a mᴀssive tutoring event in London.

‘So many exciting projects lines up, and I feel like I’m still very much at the early stages, like my diary filling up which is exciting.

The Apprentice airs Thursdays on BBC One at 9pm and is available to stream on iPlayer.