Sir Alan Sugar It was the Olympic Gold of TV viewing.

Sofa slugs nationwide were rooted to their screens...

Their eyes trained in on Sir Alan Sugar's fated firing finger for The Apprentice's dramatic climax.

But as the boardroom temperature reached boiling point in week 12 of the comp, it was high-spirited grafter Lee McQueen who finally scored the ultimate accolade of being Alan's next protege.

In one of the most closely run finales ever, the former recruitment sales manager fought off competition from wannabe tycoons Helene Speight, Alex Wotherspoon and Claire Young. 

The self-proclaimed "diamond in the rough" walked away with a six-figure salary and a job with the top boss, after Sir Alan branded his performance "very, very convincing".

"I can't describe it... it's unbelievable," said a jubliant Lee of his triumph.

The deal-breaker task which led him to success involved all four finalists creating and branding their own line of mens' fragrance.

And to up the viewing ante further still, a few fired Apprentice candidates from past tasks were brought back to, erm, "help" out.

Claire and Lee landed on the idea a casino-inspired, "non-metrosexual" fragrance called Roulette, and were aided in their campaign by Michael Sophocles, Jenny Celerier and Simon Smith.

Meanwhile Alex and Helene employed the help of ex-candidates Kevin Shaw, (the lovely) Raef Bjayou and Jennifer Maguire, in plumping for an unconventional yet orignal scent named Dual.

The whole process was as usual jam-packed with drama - Helene appeared tense and moody throughout, while Lee struggled with his presentation skills.Lee McQueen

Following a TV ad, presentation and gimmick-laden show from both teams, Sir Alan first fired Helene and Alex, on the basis that they hadn't though out the costing of their product.

He then agonised between Claire and Lee - and we have to say, we were stuck too.

But, of course, it was Lee who eventually had the happy phrase "You're hired" ringing in his ears, while poor Claire was left in tears.

"He delivered every single time I wanted him to do something," said Sir Alan of Lee, adding that he was "not at all worried" about what Claire was going to do next since "she's got a tremendous wealth (of skills)".