The contestant, who slammed Sir Alan Sugar for booting him out after last week's sandwich task, put his heart and soul into looking like a girl for a talent show.
One of his mates, who saw a then-chubby Rocky in the hilarious get-up during a school trip to France, said it was typical of his burning ambition to win.
He explained: "Rocky was only 14 but he got all the lads together, picked one of the Spice Girls' songs and even insisted they do some rehearsals so they'd be word-perfect. And not content with that, he also went round all the girls on the trip and borrowed their clothes so that they'd all have a girly outfit to perform in.
"As I remember the first prize was only some chocolates but you'd have thought Rocky had won an Oscar as he was so pleased."
Rocky, from North Yorkshire, was the Apprentice's youngest contestant at 21.
Last week he claimed he was a victim of a "North-South divide" and "snobbishness" on the show. But Rocky's pal said he did not need the £100,000-a-year prize job anyway because he earns more than that as the boss of 15 "Fatso's Filling Station" sandwich shops in the North East. They are a spin-off of his dad's restaurant chain Fatso's.
The source told us: "They are hugely popular. Rocky's done really well so I don't know why he needs the grief of going on telly and getting told off by Sir Alan."
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