Apprentice star Melody Hossaini has described how she's cheated death several times - including being kidnapped in Abu Dhabi three years ago.
The candidate, who was fired on Wednesday's show, told the Sunday Mirror how she survived her early life in war-torn Iran and was even held at gunpoint in her home when her family moved to Sweden.
"I've cheated death so many times that sometimes I think I've got nine lives," she said. "I was born during the Iran-Iraq war when bombs were blowing up neighbours' houses.
"I was bound and gagged in my own home by three burglars who threatened to shoot my mum. And then three years ago I was convinced I was going to die when I was driven off into the desert outside Abu Dhabi and dumped."
Hossaini revealed how two men burst into her home holding handguns when she was 12, after her brother opened the door to a stranger. "Then the third man shoved gags in our mouths, tied us up and threw us into a cupboard. He said, 'If your mother comes back we're going to shoot her'."
After finishing her law degree at Oxford Brookes University and working for a prominent youth organisation, she started her own business to improve the lives young people by teaching them innovative skills and development training.
After changing planes in Abu Dhabi on her way back from a seminar in Indonesia, she went on a shopping trip. However, in the cab back to the airport she fell asleep and woke up an hour later to find she was being driven down the motorway in the middle of nowhere.
"I instantly knew something was very wrong," she said. "But I tried to stay calm and asked the guy whether we had gone past the airport. He immediately looked back at me with a horrible expression and just hissed, 'Shut up'.
"Then all of a sudden he swerved off the motorway on to a roundabout, sped round it three times and shot back on to the main road. I started screaming at him to let me out and he careered over three lanes of traffic and pulled over on the hard shoulder. I jumped out, grabbed my bags and he drove off leaving me in the desert in 40-degree heat.
"Whenever I was faced with these terrifying situations I managed to find an inner strength and stay calm. It has made me a real fighter."
