Who wasn’t watching The Apprentice last night?

I’m usually not into the whole reality TV scene, but every year when The Apprentice hits our screens – I’m hooked. I don’t know what it is about the programme that gets me – the annoying contestants, Sir Alan Sugar, Margaret and Nick’s comments or the just the pure insight of how the business world can be.
Last night’s show had the usual mix but even as I was vetting the contestants for sheer viewing pleasure, I couldn’t help but wonder at the type of people who get selected for the show and the criteria for getting fired. It got me thinking – were these people a true representative of people in business?
The media, it seems, always makes out that business people have to be a cut above the rest when it comes to being conniving, deceitful, arrogant and frankly nasty. Not only did last night’s victim have a “natural frown” which made her seem miserable, but poor Anita Shah’s main downfall was the fact that she didn’t fight her case and wasn’t nasty enough to convince Sir Alan and his team that she had what it takes to be successful in business.
Whatever the contestants or the programme convey, I remain unconvinced that people in business need to be all of those things. Sharp? Yes. Smart? Definitely. Innovative, hardworking, insightful, driven – I’ll buy all of that. But nasty?
If I were to base my assumptions on my own recent experience at the BT Tradespace My Customer event over the last couple of days with a select few business customers – I’d say the attributes that bring success on The Apprentice aren’t necessarily what you need to succeed in business. For example, the customers I’ve met this week have been the nicest bunch of people I’ve ever met! And yet they’re all successful business people!
So here starts my confusion and the reason behind my question – is business nasty or would nice do it too? What do you think?