The Apprentice winner Dean Franklin declares what 'petrified' him the most during BBC series

winner Dean Franklin has admitted he was "petrified" of boardroom.

of the BBC programme on Thursday night. Lord Sugar, 78, chose to invest in Mr Franklin's air conditioning business despite the contestant's difficult semi-final interviews. Business guru Mike Soutar grilled Mr Franklin, 35, about , which the tradesperson had said was "quite funny" at the time.

But Mr Franklin said this awkward encounter was less frightening than going into the iconic boardroom after every task. The dad of two, who is from Dagenham, east London, said: "To go into that boardroom, I was petrified. I know I sat there, and I didn't look at all nervous, but I was, my heart was beating 100 miles per hour, and it was so scary.

"During the interviews, I crumbled. When I sat in that chair my mind went completely blank. I couldn't even get a sentence together it was that bad. I've never had it before in my life, but the pressure was unbelievable, and I knew whatever was going to come out of my mouth was going to be rubbish. My mind turned to mush, and I couldn't get anything out."

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Yet Mr Franklin did enough to impress Lord Sugar, who made his initial fortune with consumer electronics company Amstrad, and the host selected the proud Londoner as his winner. Mr Franklin triumphed over 26-year-old Anisa Khan, who had .

It makes Mr Franklin the first tradesperson to win The Apprentice in nine years. Speaking about his journey, the plucky entrepreneur told : "I've never had any experience in front of the camera before, so filming the Apprentice was new to me. I really struggled. I am a tradesman; I'm not used to being in front of the camera or the corporate speaking or any sort of public speaking."

But he conquered his last public address of the series - presenting his business to a room of industry experts - as he closed in on victory. His confident speech was almost ruined when Mr Franklin walked off stage, initially forgetting to host the question and answer part of his presentation.

The contestant's company, ADL Air Conditioning, is jointly owned by himself and close pal Alex Scott. He kept the firm going whilst Mr Franklin entered the series and now as payback he will equally benefit from Lord Sugar’s investment. It means in the next few years.