Thomas Skinner: MasterChef was as scary as Lord Sugar grilling

Thomas Skinner found \'Celebrity Masterchef\' just as scary as Lord Sugar\'s \'Apprentice\' grilling.

The 28-year-old star was fired by the 73-year-old entrepreneur on the BBC business show last year, and he has turned his hand to cooking for John Torode and Gregg Wallace, but he was terrified of poisoning the two judges.

He told The Sun newspaper\'s Bizarre TV column: "The shows are so different but both are very scary. I could have killed John and Gregg with my food."

The pillow salesman was dropped from the reality business show after losing all bar one of his tasks, but he still felt more comfortable in Lord Sugar\'s presence than on the BBC cook-off.

He continued: "I\'ve been grafting since I was a kid, so I found \'The Apprentice\' more natural for me. I was more out of my comfort zone on \'MasterChef\', but \'The Apprentice\' was longer hours.

"Everyone was so lovely and kind on \'MasterChef\' but in \'The Apprentice\' everyone wanted to stab you in the back."

It was announced last week the 2020 series of \'The Apprentice\' has officially been axed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, the broadcaster said: "Sadly we have decided to postpone \'The Apprentice\' for 2020.

"Production safety and the wellbeing of everyone involved in the show is our number one priority."

Thomas is "gutted" for the hopeful contestants who were ready to take on this year\'s challenges, as he knows how big an impact the programme could have on their lives.

He added: "I\'m gutted for everyone \'The Apprentice\' is cancelled. It changed my life.

"Since going on the show, I\'m probably one of the biggest pillow suppliers in the UK at the moment. We\'re unbelievably busy."