An Apprentice contestant quit the show after he claimed "really hurtful" Lord Sugar told him he had been "really, really quiet".

Dr Jana Denzel, from London, left series 19 of the BBC One business show in episode five.

Speaking after his departure, the cosmetic dentist said he believed he "performed really well" until episode four, when "Lord Sugar said to me, 'You've been really, really quiet since the last few weeks."

He added: "That just registered in my head. I was like...'I've been one of the best performing candidates here for the last few weeks, I've been really giving it 100 per cent and all of myself. But you just say that I've been really, really quiet is really hurtful'".

The show sees hopeful contestants compete for Lord Sugar's £250,000 investment and garners more than six million viewers every week.

In his last task, Dr Denzel was seen acting as the project manager following weeks of successful negotiating and deals.

However, his team lost the Easter Egg challenge and he was seen saying he wanted to "step away from the process".

As Dr Denzel departed, Lord Sugar said: "It's been a pleasure having you here... you seem a stand-up fellow, I wish you well."

But the contestant insisted he had been thrown by the businessman's comments on him being "quiet" in the previous episode.

He said: "That moment onwards, I looked at [Lord Sugar] and I was like, 'You know what? Maybe this just isn't a great fit, then, because if I'm positively contributing and giving 100 per cent of myself, and you're saying, 'I'm really, really quiet, and you haven't seen much from me', then I don't think this is going to work'.

"So, I actually made my decision in that boardroom at the end of episode four, and I said to the producers as well, 'I don't think this is [going to] be a great fit for me... because I don't like how that was going down.'"

The son of Sri Lankan refugees, who built a dental practice in Harley Street, Dr Denzel admitted with "hindsight" he could have spoken up more in boardrooms, but also maintained that Lord Sugar has access to the records of who led which negotiation.

During the third task, where the candidates were challenged to buy a list of items for Lord Sugar at a good price, he said he "was the only person to get my thing for cost price", later giving the flower seller a pound extra as he thought the businessman would be unhappy with such a low price.

Dr Denzel's idea was to have "cosmetic dentistry clinics that we were going to scale up using his commercial property", and thinks that he has found investment thanks to The Diary of a CEO host and Dragon's Den investor Steven Bartlett.

He said Mr Bartlett put him in touch with his then investment manager, Danny Gray, whom he is working with on "not only scaling the dental clinic, but we're looking at all the healthcare product market", to move products in chain pharmacies.

"We've been working on some pretty cool stuff, and that's all thanks to Steven," he added.

The dentist, who has a BSc in biology with psychology, a degree in dentistry, and a postgraduate diploma in restorative and aesthetic dentistry, said he is also talking to The Apprentice producers about other shows, and added that he needs a "little bit of time before I jump back on the TV screen again".

He said he wants to be a representation to "people who come from similar backgrounds as me, growing up in a refugee home", and especially in his community, the Tamils.

"I'm the first person from that community on the show like this, and that community has gone behind me, and I feel in some aspects, I've let them down by leaving so early," he added.

Candidates have left the show early before, including Shama Amin, a children's nursery owner, and Reece Donnelly, a Glasgow-based theatre school owner over the last few years.