Selina Waterman-Smith, a candidate on The Apprentice, risked incarceration by slipping out of Dubai.
Selina, a competitor on the show in 2015, wanted to escape the country after being convicted of bouncing a cheque she claims she never authored and having her passport confiscated.
The 39-year-old believed she had ‘nothing to lose’ and spent £17,000 to be transported from the UAE to Oman, her neighbouring nation.
‘I had lost everything due to corruption in the UAE. I felt I had nothing to lose. If I had been caught they would have locked me up. I can never go back,’ she shared.
She alleges she was ordered to appear to court for failing to pay £27,750 to a former business partner. Reflecting on how she got into the position, she claims that the man posed as an investor and gave her £200,000 before demanding pay and profits despite not providing any money.
The online business instructor claims the court never notified her, so she did not attend the original hearing and was found guilty.
‘I appealed the ludicrous outcome but was told because I was a woman I couldn’t run a business anyway. I was also advised a man doesn’t need any evidence to prosecute a case against a woman in Dubai,’ she told The Sun.
Selina recounted having ‘a mental breakdown’ and losing her entire business in 2020, so she paid to flee. While she first paid £10,000, the first individual let her down, forcing her to pay an additional £7000 to another person before ultimately crossing the border by hiding in the back of a car.
‘I need to start again and try to put this all behind me. The ordeal has played havoc with my mental health. I have lost everything,’ she summarised.
In 2023, she claimed: ‘Everyone from the government has stated that I haven’t done anything illegal, and to “ignore him” since he’ll become bored. Sadly, this has not been the case.
‘My mental health has degraded, and I have been unable to leave him for five years. “I feel it is my duty to speak out about this and potentially protect other women,” she told The Mirror.
She was previously allowed to fly back to the United Kingdom and has lived in Thailand since the end of last year.
Lord Alan Sugar sacked Selina, who owned an events agency at the time of her participation on the BBC series, after the ninth week. Candidates were needed to become property agents and sell mid and high-end houses around London, however her lack of sales resulted in her elimination from the competition.
Source My Celebrity Life.