He might trade off his no-nonsense East End-boy-made-good reputation on the telly, but one of Sir Alan Sugar's aides has claimed that the Amstrad tycoon is secretly a man of culture.

Nick Hewer, who appears on The Apprentice alongside Sugar every week, has claims that his boss is fond of quoting Shakespeare at unexpected moments.

Speaking on This Morning, Hewer said: "A lot of people don't know he writes brilliantly and then he'll turn around and recite a line of Shakespeare."

Former PR exec Hewer also said that Sugar, with whom he has worked since the 1980s, displays great comic timing in his business dealings.

We trust that he's not referring to the Amstrad E-M@iler phone with that last comment!

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