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APPRENTICE EXCLUSIVE: I'VE AD IT WITH THIS LOT


I CAME very close to losing it last night. Both teams infuriated me - they just would not listen.

This lot really need to learn how to take instructions... or none of them will be going anywhere - fast.

Despite everything I said, every one of them went off and did the wrong thing. It was very disappointing.

It was the first week that we have had proper mixed teams with Ruth and Paul as team leaders.

What I asked them to do was to come up with an ad campaign for a kind of credit card that allows punters to book upmarket airline services.

They managed to totally miss the point.


Mani, on Ruth's team, somehow translated the briefing as me wanting an ad campaign for a concierge service. It's one of life's great mysteries how he arrived at that conclusion - but then the whole bloody team got it totally wrong.

He is supposed to be a star presenter - at least that's what he kept telling us over and over again. But I never saw any evidence to back it up.

He left it to Samuel on this occasion to present the concept. Even back in the boardroom when he had the opportunity to present to me, he turned out to be all huff and puff.

So he had to go. I got a feeling that I just couldn't work with him and I couldn't see what he was bringing to the party.

Paul's team wasn't bad. They still got the campaign wrong but they were in the right direction. They got the point about the card and came up with the card trick line.

But in the end they won simply because they got closest to what I asked them to advertise.

We were a bit wicked when it came to the judging. We made the teams present their ideas to the entire staff at Saatchi & Saatchi - and that's 500 scary people.

Next week they have to do some hard-core selling - flogging a load of cars from second-hand car sites.

There's the usual tantrums and frustrations. The car lot owners get really angry and give some of the apprentices a right telling off. But who manages to sell anything?

This one really does sort out the sales people from the wafflers.



They just didn't listen - and then made a real mess of it. Mirror

MOVERS & SHAKERS By Polly Hudson

RUTH

PETTY to bring the for-once-blameless Jo into boardroom just be cause she doesn't like her. Hasn't she heard of Girl Power?

PAUL

HIS presentation was SO painful - it would have been less embarrassing if he had done the David Brent dance.

SYED

ACTUALLY looked nervous during the pitch to Saatchi & Saatchi... do I detect a hint of humility ? Surely not!


MICHELLE

NAKED, in just a towel for most of the house shots this week. Maybe so everyone'd forget what a rubbish director she was.

JO

I THOUGHT she'd explode when given the task - goggleeyed, slack-jawed excitement that'd make Davina proud.

SHARON

SAYS she used to teach advertising but was beyond useless in this week's task. Those that can...

ANSELL

HE was the one who pushed the concierge angle but got off scot-free. Should have be en taken to the boardroom - and fired.

SAMUEL

THINKS his team were "beaten" in the task rather than "lost". Glad he's focusing on such important issues.

TUAN

OUT of 10,000 applicants, am I seriously supposed to believe he was in the top 14? Deadwood and boring TV too.

SACKED

MANI

SO smarmy I'm surprised he didn't leave a trail of oil from the boardroom to the waiting taxi. Oh, yeah - and ha ha ha ha ha, obviously. Mirror

BBC2: 9PM
Would you buy a used car from one of Sir Alan Sugar's budding Apprentices? It's almost half way through Sir Alan's quest to find the perfect business entrepreneur. This week the nine surviving battle scarred candidates find themselves dumped on the forecourt of a giant car supermarket. They have just 10 hours to sell real cars to real people for real money.

The sales patter ranges from brutal and uncompromising to outright lies. One candidate tells his customer that if he buys today he'll be able to sell the car on at a profit after two years. Naturally his hard nosed Rottweiler sales manager is not impressed.

But despite the jaw dropping one liners, the apprentices do put up a valiant fight. As the Saturday afternoon rush kicks in, wary punters begin to produce ever larger wads of cash.

As ever though, it all ends in back stabbing, insults and tears in the boardroom. Not everyone done good - So someone's going to get fired.
BBC2

Jo has to fill her frequently exercised choppers with humble pie, as her used motor selling turns to carnage. BBC2

Shes been very quiet of late ...it's boring!

After tonight's programme, my opinion of Michelle has gone down significantly. Sneaky two-faced wotsit. How much did she lay into Sharon? I thought they were best mates....obviously not.

Jo - you're fired!
Syed next please

About time Jo went imo. She was a liabilty to any team she was on and as Sir Alan said she was in the final three four times too many.

Saira Says


Jo is given the boot

It was inevitable Jo was going to get fired, but when it finally happened I sympathised with her and even shed a tear. Jo's irritating emotional outbursts, over the top energy and confrontational attitude did not do her any favours, yet there were glimpses of an intelligent side to her.

It was Jo who did not agree with the girls using sex to sell fruit and it was Jo who did not agree with using animals for their Great Ormond Street Hospital calendar. All her good ideas fell on deaf ears because her fellow candidates did not respect her and therefore did not listen. I learnt last year from participating in The Apprentice that when you are working as part of a team you have to adapt your personal style to win over peoples' respect and get them to buy into you and your ideas.

Jo's biggest failing was she lacked emotional intelligence, executive maturity and the ability to read body language, which I find quite baffling as Jo was a HR manager and should know about personal development.

I think deep down Sir Alan liked Jo and was genuinely sorry to have to fire her - it was a tough decision between Ansell and her. Ansell was a very weak project manager; he lacked direction, authority and was too laid back. The one saving grace for him, unlike Jo, is that he is personable and liked by the candidates, this worked to his advantage. Last week Ruth should have taken Ansell into the boardroom and not Jo, but because she likes Ansell, she let him swim away.

So now the most annoying yet entertaining candidate has been given the boot, just who will fill her shoes?
bbc2

Fired Jo may strip for mag
Sun

SUGAR TV HOPEFUL'S RIVALS JIBE


APPRENTICE contestant Tuan Le has been rapped by show bosses for mocking his rivals on a website.

The financial advisor sent up rivals who Sir Alan Sugar had already fired from the BBC show by posting clips with spoof captions on his web diary.

Tuan, 27, was also warned about describing Syed Ahmed - a favourite to win - as being "too far up his own ass" in a chatroom. He also described Michelle Dewberry, 26, as a "mucky pup".

After bosses found out about his remarks, Tuan, of Weston-Super-Mare, tried to get them removed. He admitted Syed, 31, had made an official complaint.

A source said: "Tuan really panicked about it. They were under strict orders not to talk."

A spokesman for producers Talkback confirmed he had been ordered to remove the captions, adding: "We gently reminded Tuan not to discuss the shows publicly before he is fired." Mirror

Week seven, and the remaining eight candidates face a tough challenge in Europe's busiest fashion store - Top Shop in London's Oxford Circus. In order to succeed in the high pressure environment of high street retailing, the teams must get inside the minds of their target audience - teenagers.

This week there's a surprise in store when Sir Alan swings by with Top Shop owner Phillip Green. As always, sparks soon fly as the candidates try to cut it in the world of fashion. BBC2

MICHELLE'S TEAM OF LOSERS FAILS TO SELL ITSELF
EXCLUSIVE THE APPRENTICE: Sir Alan Sugar

LAST night we really threw the teams in at retail's deep-end. They were given the chance to show they've got what it takes, selling from one of the finest retail positions in the world.

You cannot get better than Oxford Circus.

There could be no whinging that they didn't have passing traffic or a huge potential of customers. My friend, Bhs boss Philip Green, kindly allowed us to disrupt his business and gave us part of his famous Topshop store for a day.

The two teams initially met me at Chigwell School where I was giving a talk to the pupils.

They then got the chance to chat to 6th Form girls to do some crucial research for the task ahead. No wonder Michelle's team lost.

She spent most of her time downstairs in the VIP area, swigging champagne, while the troops were working their butts off upstairs.

I didn't realise how much skiving she actually did until I got to see the finished version of the show just before you saw it. Despite all that, having watched Samuel for seven weeks and hearing from Nick and Margaret that he was doing nothing at all, I had to get rid of him.

I had become bored with him constantly telling me he can't sell. As far as I can see, he can't do anything! Tuan was leader of the winning team.

They did a great job, but I'm surprised they got themselves together as there seemed to be a lot of altercation with Sharon.

She always seems to be arguing. I was angry when she was being belligerent and difficult and not helpful.

She was finally caught out when the cameras captured some real Sharon in action. Paul on the other hand was on top form.

He could charm the birds out of the trees. And I have to give it to Ansell. He was game for it and a good laugh in his lovely pink ensemble.

Next week the apprentices do what I do every day of my life - sell to the trade.

They have sold to the public in the past but selling to the trade is a whole new ball game and needs certain skills.

The losing team also needs to get themselves some watches - they had a real problem with time keeping.

But despite the poor performance of the teams, I can't believe how well the show is doing. We were flogging second-hand cars last week - and our figures took off.

I've been told that our peak audience of 4.6million viewers is a kind of record for this type of show on BBC2 - you can't argue with that.

The Apprentice, Wednesdays, 9pm on BBC2. (Repeated 7pm, Tuesdays), followed by You're Fired, 10pm Wednesdays, BBC3
Mirror

MOVERS & SHAKERS


RUTH

Simply must win. Last week she flogged more cars than everyone else put together, this week she effortlessly turns her hand to clothes and - even though she's hardly a style icon - girls listen. Amazing.

PAUL

ANOTHER brilliant sales-person. Hilarious just how into the Topshop challenge he got, growling: "Whenever there's a girl about, Syed just barges in with his f*****g skinny jeans!

SYED

OK, yes, he was totally sleazy watching the girls taking their clothes off in the Topshop changing room. But Syed and I now officially agree on something - hating Sharon and thinking she's rubbish.

MICHELLE

HATE to be a spoilsport but I didn't approve of her nicking champagne from the VIP suite in Topshop - how dare she commit such a sin in MY place of worship!

ANSELL

GOD knows Sir Alan is my life role model - but it was possibly slightly too much information when he said: "I know that, as sure as I've got a hole in my bloody arse."

As for Ansell, like, whatever

TUAN

DO you think he got called Tuna at school? Beyond useless and dull, dull, dull - it's casting like this that's making the second series - sadly - just not as compelling as the first. Sorry, Al.

SHARON

WHINED: "You don't take my views into account and you dismiss what I say." Maybe that's because your views are stupid and what you say is nonsense - sulky old witch.

FIRED

SAMUEL

OOH Sugar, you old tease! I totally thought Michelle was going to be fired and was screaming at the telly! How could chocolate teapot Samuel live to fight another week? Simple - he couldn't. See ya!
Mirror

Saira's Column
Syed was never going to be the next Apprentice

I found working in a team of two people a huge advantage against a team of three. It was easier to make decisions and, work more effectively and efficiently. James Max and I knew that we had to win as we were both strong contenders and knew the boardroom would not be an easy fight. We worked as a team to do all we could to win. Syed and Ruth, on the other hand, worked against each other and undermined each other, which cost them the task.

I felt Ruth let Syed make mistakes on purpose. For example, the whole idea of hitting the golf balls into the sea was ludicrous and she went along with it, as if it was quite acceptable.

It was always going to be a matter of time before Syed was fired as I could never envisage him working with Sir Alan. I think Syed has certainly got all the basic attributes to be a very good business man: ability to sell; takes risks; confident; persistent; has a lot of self belief.

Three key things that let Syed down were: not having well founded ideas; his unreliability; his attitude and approach. All these things made him seem arrogant, something which can certainly alienate people, and which resulted in them working against him rather than with him.

Syed failed because he was too impulsive, lacked attention to detail and repeatedly made mistakes - he picked up the wrong keys for a flat, ordered too many chickens for the pizza, flouted the rules by not adhering to deadlines and tried to blag the raffle because he didn't write names on the back of the ticket.

Sir Alan fired Syed because there were too many mistakes, too often - it was bound to happen.

BBC

I'm so pleased Syed got fired, he was so full of himself, he was so annoying.