The Apprentice (British series 4)

The Apprentice UK

◄ ►  Series Four

The Candidates Name Left Show       Lee McQueen Week 12 Claire Young Week 12 Alex Wotherspoon Week 12 Helene Speight Week 12 Lucinda Ledgerwood Week 11 Michael Sophocles Week 10 Raef Bjayou Week 9 Sara Dhada Week 8 Jennifer Maguire Week 7 Jenny Celerier Week 7 Kevin Shaw Week 6 Lindi Mngaza Week 5 Simon Smith Week 4 Ian Stringer Week 3 Shazia Wahab Week 2 Nicholas de Lacy-Brown Week 1 Hired Runner-up Fired

Series Four of The Apprentice (UK) was a British reality television series, which was broadcast in the UK during 2008 from 26 March to 11 June on BBC One. Production of the series took place between September and October the previous year, with auditions and interviews for the fourth series reported to had taken place in London, Glasgow, Manchester and Bristol during the first two weeks of July 2007, while receiving a record of 20,000 applications to be on the show that year. The series was won by Lee McQueen.

The candidates that were chosen, were housed in an impressive 7,000-square-foot (650 m²), £5million warehouse conversion in Candahar Road, Battersea. The luxury duplex conversion, The Glass Factory, is owned by ex-Formula One racing driver Johnny Dumfries, the seventh Marquess of Bute.

Filming of the first episode of Series Three of The Apprentice: You're Fired! took place on 25 March 2008, with TV presenter Jennifer Maguire participating in the series. In addition, four specials were aired during 2008 - "The Worst Decisions Ever" on 3 April, "Motor Mouths" on 18 April, "The Final Five" on 2 June, and another edition of "Why I Fired Them" on 8 June.

Candidates

See also: List of The Apprentice candidates (UK series four)

There were sixteen candidates taking part in this series, and they were initially separated into two teams by gender. The women chose the name Alpha for their team, while the men named their team Renaissance. Three candidates - Nicholas, Shazia and Lindi - never had the chance to be project manager.

Candidate	Background	Original team	Age	Result
Lee McQueen	Recruitment Sales Manager	Renaissance	30	Hired by Sugar
Claire Young	Senior Retail Buyer	Alpha	29	Runner-up
Helene Speight	Global Pricing Leader	Alpha	32	Fired in the middle of the Final
Alex Wotherspoon	Regional Sales Manager	Renaissance	24	Fired in the middle of the Final
Lucinda Ledgerwood	Risk Manager	Alpha	31	Fired in week 11
Michael Sophocles	Telesales Executive	Renaissance	24	Fired in week 10
Raef Bjayou	Entrepreneur	Renaissance	27	Fired in week 9
Sara Dhada	International Car Trader	Alpha	25	Fired in week 8
Jennifer Maguire	Marketing Consultant	Alpha	27	Fired in week 7
Jenny Celerier	Sales Manager	Alpha	36	Fired in week 7
Kevin Shaw	Bank Manager	Renaissance	24	Fired in week 6
Lindi Mngaza	Business Liaison Manager	Alpha	22	Fired in week 5
Simon Smith	Engineer	Renaissance	35	Fired in week 4
Ian Stringer	Software Sales Manager	Renaissance	26	Fired in week 3
Shazia Wahab	Mosaic Artist and Company Director	Alpha	35	Fired in week 2
Nicholas de Lacy-Brown	Trainee Barrister, Artist and Property Developer	Renaissance	24	Fired in week 1

Weekly results

Elimination chart
Candidate	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Lee	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	HIRED
Claire	WIN	IN	IN	BR	WIN	BR	BR	IN	BR	BR	IN	RUNNER-UP
Helene	IN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	IN	LOSE	IN	BR	IN	FIRED
Alex	LOSE	IN	IN	BR	IN	IN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	FIRED
Lucinda	IN	BR	IN	IN	LOSE	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	FIRED
Michael	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	WIN	BR	BR	BR	FIRED
Raef	BR	WIN	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	FIRED
Sara	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	BR	IN	FIRED
Jennifer	IN	IN	IN	IN	BR	IN	FIRED
Jenny	IN	LOSE	IN	IN	IN	IN	FIRED
Kevin	IN	IN	BR	IN	IN	FIRED
Lindi	IN	IN	IN	IN	FIRED
Simon	IN	IN	BR	FIRED
Ian	IN	IN	FIRED
Shazia	IN	FIRED
Nicholas	FIRED

     The candidate was on the winning team; for Week 11, they managed to pass the interview stage.

     The candidate was on the losing team.

     The candidate was hired and won The Apprentice.

     The candidate was the runner-up.

     The candidate won as project manager on his/her team.

     The candidate lost as project manager on his/her team.

     The candidate was brought to the final boardroom.

     The candidate was fired.

     The candidate lost as project manager and was fired.

Episodes

Week 1: Fishy Business

• Renaissance: Alex (Project Manager), Raef, Michael, Nicholas, Lee, Ian, Simon and Kevin.
• Alpha: Claire (Project Manager), Sara, Lindi, Helene, Jenny, Lucinda, Shazia and Jennifer.
• Task: Sell £600 worth of seafood at a choice of London market locations. Most profit made, wins.
• Task Review: Alpha quickly decided to set up their seafood stand in Islington. They had difficulty in identifying seafood and correctly pricing them, as customers bombarded their stand before they had even begun. Despite this, the team managed to sell large orders to groups of people, increasing their earnings. Meanwhile, Renaissance wasted a lot of time deciding on their team name and leader, and did not get started until just before midday. They also decided to set up in Islington. Like Alpha, Renaissance struggled to identify seafood; Nicholas badly blundered by pricing some items much cheaper than they should have been; lobsters were selling for less than a quarter of the recommended retail price. The team lost even more money when Michael panic-sold £100 worth of fish for barely half that amount.
• Result: Alpha made a profit of £153.98, while Renaissance made a profit of £32.69.
• Winner: Alpha - By £121.29.
• Reward: Dinner cooked by Michelin-starred chef Jean-Christophe Novelli.
• Brought into the boardroom: Alex, Nicholas, and Raef
• Fired: Nicholas - For incorrectly pricing the fish, poorly defending himself in the boardroom despite his legal background, and for admitting he was unable to get on with "less educated" candidates.
• You're Fired Panel: James Martin, Karren Brady and Rufus Hound
• Notes:
  • While Alpha won, Sir Alan did not feel that their profit was especially impressive.
  • Sir Alan said that under most circumstances Alex would have been fired, feeling that he showed a lack of sales strategy and had, unconcernedly, overseen a split in the team, but gave him credit for stepping up as project manager when no-one else was willing, and was impressed by his defence after Nicholas questioned his education and experience.
  • Raef also nearly got fired as he incorrectly identified several of the fish as being cheaper varieties, which cost the team money, along with claiming to "get on with Prince or Pauper" in the boardroom, a statement which Sir Alan and Alex considered pompous, although he was actually trying to say he would work with anyone irrespective of their background or interests. Despite this, he was able to provide a much stronger argument than Nicholas and even backed Alex up when his education was questioned.
  • On You're Fired, the panel agreed that Nicholas' poor boardroom defence was the main reason he was fired. It was noted that he did have legitimate grounds for objecting, such as Alex only giving vague instructions on the pricing. It was Nicholas himself who eventually spotted and corrected the errors. However, he instead talked about a "cultural divide" in the team and said that he had problems getting on with people who like football, despite the fact that Sir Alan came from a working-class background and had spent 11 years as chairman of Tottenham Hotspur. Margaret admitted being shocked at how poorly he defended himself, considering his legal background.
  • This episode marks the only time the Viglen building walk of shame sequence is used during the daytime as the other walk of shame scenes are shot at night. This was down to the fact that because Sir Alan set the task on the spot and although he asked Alex to bring two people back into the boardroom he felt that Renaissance had a long day already so decided that further discussion would be pointless so sent Alex, Raef and Nicholas back to the house and carried on the boardroom the next morning.

Week 2: A Dirty Job

• Renaissance: Raef (Project Manager), Michael, Alex, Lee, Ian, Simon and Kevin.
• Alpha: Jenny (Project Manager), Sara, Claire, Lindi, Helene, Lucinda, Shazia and Jennifer.
• Task: Using an industrial laundry machine, set up a washing service. The biggest profit wins.
• Task Review: The teams sourced business from a variety of customers businesses and homeowners. Alpha had problems setting a reasonable price, attempting to charge a hotel £4,990 for £200 worth of washing, and the fishmonger £15 for £60 worth of washing; whilst they had success in finding businesses with dirty laundry, they had little luck going door-to-door. In addition, they were late getting started, did not finish by the end of the night and lost two items, which they were fined £50 for; Shazia, who had the task of keeping track of items, left early in an unsuccessful attempt to get the steam irons at the house, which Renaissance had already removed. Renaissance's performance was virtually flawless; they targeted large companies and got several orders by going door-to-door. They made big earnings from both areas, and finished their washing and pressing before the laundry had to close. No articles were lost, meaning no penalties; Raef's management of the task and Simon's co-ordination at the laundry received high praise.
• Result: Renaissance had a profit of £328, while Alpha had a profit of £195.55
• Winner: Renaissance - By £132.45.
• Reward: Tea at The Ritz.
• Brought into the boardroom: Jenny, Lucinda, and Shazia
• Fired: Shazia - For leaving the laundry early and allowing items to get mixed up, an error Sir Alan deemed unforgivable.
• You're Fired Panel: Michelle Mone, Gerry Robinson and Claire Balding
• Notes:
  • Near the end of the first day, Jenny spent almost the entire journey from the laundry to the house berating Lucinda for what she perceived as her working too slowly, reducing her to tears. When Sara tried to tell Jenny that she was out of line, Jenny berated her as well. The next morning, Lucinda did not attend a team meeting, likely because of the hostility, but still came under attack from Jenny for the rest of the task and in the boardroom. However, Sir Alan made it clear he did not see Lucinda as responsible for Alpha's loss.
  • One of the key points mentioned in Alpha's sales pitches was their "24 hour hotline," which would allow their customers to check on the progress of their order. Lindi bragged about this in the boardroom, but Sir Alan scorned the idea that anybody, especially domestic customers, would ever be concerned enough to need such a service. The team's strategy of pressuring their customers into giving tips also came in for heavy criticism, and was not particularly successful anyway due to the various mix-ups.
  • Although Jenny was safe from elimination, Sir Alan still lambasted her for her many errors, which included her appalling behaviour towards her teammates (especially Lucinda), not being involved in the pricing strategies, and not bringing back Lindi or Jennifer who devised the strategies. He decided that Jenny had only brought back Lucinda due to their dispute, and warned Jenny that if she ever behaved that way again, she would more than likely be fired.
  • While Sir Alan had doubts about whether Lucinda was emotionally strong enough to continue, he also indicated that Lindi should have been brought back instead, as she had been responsible for many of the errors in Alpha's strategy and had been openly dismissive of any criticism of her performance. Jennifer was also held accountable for the bad sales pitches, though unlike Lindi she acknowledged her errors.
  • Almost the entire audience of You're Fired disagreed with Sir Alan's decision. While the panel agreed that Shazia had performed poorly in the boardroom, giving Jenny an opportunity to save herself, her actual work on the task was felt to have been competent, especially since the laundry mix-up only occurred after she left.

Week 3: Cooking with Gas

• Renaissance: Ian (Project Manager), Raef, Michael, Alex, Lee, Simon and Kevin.
• Alpha: Sara (Project Manager), Claire, Lindi, Helene, Jenny, Lucinda and Jennifer.
• Task: Devise and run a themed food day in a pub with no previous history of serving food, using listed wholesalers for supplies. Most profit made, wins.
• Task Review: Alpha chose a Bollywood theme. The team managed to arrange all their printing for free, but had to cancel their lunch service due to the food not being prepared properly. However, their strategy of selling admission tickets for £5 that were redeemable against dinner, as well as their better purchasing, meant that they were in profit before they had even served a meal. Renaissance decided upon an Italian theme, but spent so much time trying to brand and price their themed day that they left it too late to buy from the wholesalers and had to resort to purchasing their supplies from Tesco, resulting in substantially increased food costs; they also produced 200 flyers at £1 each. Whilst their services were smoothed out following a shaky start, they still suffered from a lack of supplies and even had to resort to cutting pizzas in half. The team took more money, but had higher cost overruns.
• Result: Renaissance had a profit of £301.97, while Alpha had a profit of £604.27.
• Winner: Alpha - By £302.30.
• Reward: Cooking lessons at the Eckington Manor Cookery School in Eckington, Worcestershire.
• Brought into the boardroom: Ian, Kevin, and Simon
• Fired: Ian - For his almost non-existent leadership, having no strategy with pricing and profit margin, denying the occurrence of Kevin's pep-talk, refusing to admit any fault for the loss, and for failing on a task he was qualified to lead.
• You're Fired Panel: John Torode, Jo Brand and Mark Frith
• Notes:
  • For this task, Sir Alan chose the project managers. Ian was chosen because he had worked in his family's pubs when he was younger, and Sara was chosen in order to prove to Sir Alan that she could successfully lead a team.
  • While Renaissance made more revenue than Alpha, Sir Alan deemed their performance one of the worst he had ever seen on the show, feeling that not one person had shown any knowledge of how to run a profitable business; in particular they were criticised for spending almost three times as much as Alpha. In actual fact, Lee and Michael had repeatedly voiced concerns that Ian and Kevin were giving no thought to profit margins early on, but were brushed aside. Michael nonetheless received heavy criticism for deciding on the prices without any knowledge of the team's costs, but he defended himself by pointing out that Ian had consistently refused to give him this information, and that the team would have otherwise missed the deadline for printing their menus.
  • Although Alpha's performance was far better, there were some issues with Claire. First, she proved difficult to work with after her initial idea for an English theme was shot down; second she attempted to blame Sara when the lunch service had to be cancelled. Nevertheless, Sir Alan praised the girls for their focus on lower costs and marketing which proved decisive.
  • Late in the day, Kevin brought all of Renaissance outside the pub for a motivational talk. In the final boardroom, Ian bizarrely attempted to deny that this had happened, despite Kevin and Simon pointing out that the meeting was recorded on camera. While Sir Alan had serious concerns with all three candidates, he indicated in the Why I Fired Them episode that this sealed Ian's fate, citing it as complete arrogance. Despite making several basic errors in calculating ingredient quantities and orders, particularly considering his bank manager background, Kevin survived, largely down to the fact that he was the only person who tried to organise and motivate the team for most of the task.
  • Ian brought Simon back into the boardroom on the basis he complained about many of Ian's decisions wihtout offering solutions but Simon countered this by saying that Ian constantly told him to "stay positive" but there was nothing to stay positive about. Although he was not considered to be directly responsible for the loss, Sir Alan seriously considered firing Simon, who he felt had only shown proficiency at physical tasks and was unconvinced he had the potential to win the competition. Ultimately, Sir Alan reluctantly decided to spare him, due to his loyalty and dedication and in response to Sir Alan's criticisms, Simon volunteered to step up as Project Manager on the following task.
  • As well as Simon, Ian tried to place the blame for the failure on the task largely on Kevin holding him responsible for the costings, how much they should make, etc. While Margaret believed that Kevin was largely responsible for the over-ordering, Sir Alan accused Ian of "echoing" when he was asked who else he thought was more responsible than him for the failure of the task. Likewise, Kevin accused Ian of appointing him "head chef" to shift responsibility to him.
  • The majority of the You're Fired audience and two of the panellists agreed with Sir Alan's decision, Torode disagreed with the decision and felt that as the head chef, Kevin should have been fired.

Week 4: Photo Finish

• Renaissance: Simon (Project Manager), Sara, Michael, Claire, Jenny and Alex.
• Alpha: Helene (Project Manager), Raef, Lindi, Lee, Lucinda, Kevin and Jennifer.
• Task: Run a photography business in the Bluewater shopping centre. Most profit made, wins.
• Task Review: Alpha hired a David Beckham lookalike, but communication issues between the shop floor and the production room caused lost orders. Alpha had problems operating their software, caused mostly by Helene assigning Lucinda to work the computer, despite her lack of technical knowledge, and then refusing to allow anyone else to swap when it became clear she was unable to meet the orders. Despite this Alpha still managed to get the majority of their orders sent. Renaissance, meanwhile, opted for a "glamour and beauty" theme; like Alpha, communication issues caused lost orders, only they were hurt more seriously. Simon clashed with his teammates about ideas, particularly him insisting to have people take pictures in public. As a result, the team got very few orders sent and failed to earn back their costs.
• Result: Alpha had a profit of £145.10, while Renaissance had a loss of £73.81.
• Winner: Alpha - By £218.91.
• Reward: Dinner aboard a luxury yacht, on trip to the Isle of Wight.
• Brought into the boardroom: Simon, Alex, and Claire
• Fired: Simon, with regret - For coming up with a poor theme, not being able to control the strong personalities of his team, poor communication with the production team, and because Sir Alan felt he was out of his depth.
• You're Fired Panel: Terry O'Neill, Kirsty Allsopp and Trevor Nelson
• Notes:
  • During the task, Claire was particularly insubordinate, showing little respect for Simon, ignoring his orders, and constantly butting heads about his ideas. In the boardroom she continued to berate Simon and did not take any responsibility, even going so far as to interrupt Sir Alan while he was trying to give his final deliberations. An infuriated Sir Alan ordered her back to the house for her rudeness, and told her that she would lead the next task, strongly implying that she would be fired if she lost.
  • Despite Alpha's victory, Sir Alan was not happy with either team's performance, and in particular had heavy criticism for Helene's leadership, even questioning whether she had deliberately tried to make her team lose to get rid of Lucinda, something that Helene insisted was untrue. Lucinda repeatedly told Helene she was not prepared and asked if someone could switch, but Helene refused and accused Lucinda of being lazy, resulting in Lucinda snapping at her. The panel on You're Fired pointed out that the members of Alpha admitted they had little confidence in Lucinda's abilities, effectively undermining her contribution; it was agreed that had they lost, Helene should have been fired.
  • It was worth noting that Simon initially appointed Alex as sub-team leader, but Alex shirked this by accusing Simon of deliberately trying to abdicate responsibility by "diluting his position". This caused Simon to instead appoint Claire as sub-team leader, giving Alex an opportunity to gang up on her with Simon once the candidates returned to the boardroom. Despite being berated by Margaret for "stepping so far back, he was practically out of the room" and receiving allegations of being a backstabber, Alex survived as Sir Alan felt he was not directly at fault for the loss.
  • The majority of the You're Fired studio audience, combined with two of the panellists, disagreed with the decision, feeling that Claire should have been fired for her complete lack of respect, although Simon himself said that he deserved to be fired. Sir Alan would later go on to say that he kept Claire as she still had more potential, even if her attitude was lacking.
  • This week's episode of You're Fired! marks the last occasion where the audience reaction is shown over the clip of the candidate's firing. This was previously used in the previous week's episode where the audience responded with cheers whilst with Shazia two weeks ago the audience responded with shock.
  • Simon was the only candidate in this series to be fired with regret in the main episode (not counting You're Fired! or Why I Fired Them).

Week 5: Mid-Series Sales

• Renaissance: Claire (Project Manager), Sara, Michael, Jenny, Alex and Kevin.
• Alpha: Lucinda (Project Manager), Raef, Lindi, Helene, Lee and Jennifer.
• Task: Develop three new flavours of ice cream at specialised farms, then choose two to sell directly the trade market in London. Most profit made, wins.
• Task Review: Alpha decided on "Avocado and Chili" and "Toffee Apple" flavoured ice creams after a focus group meeting. Their orders included those from a group of pubs and a cinema chain that Renaissance had contacted first, but the manager decided to take Alpha's product instead. However, the manager asked for exclusivity for three months, to which Lindi and Jennifer agreed, violating the task rules. Time was also wasted because Jennifer and Lindi arranged appointments with ice cream shops that made their own products, resulting in many dead-ends. Renaissance, on the other hand, arrived 30 minutes late to their focus group and found nobody there, thus their market research came from two drinkers at a local pub, and opted for "Very Berry" and "Cider and Elderflower" (nicknamed "Scrumplelicious") flavours. They struggled at first, even having a major deal broken because the cinema chain preferred Alpha's, but secured a large order from a designer restaurant at the last minute.
• Result: Alpha made a profit of £1,273.64, while Renaissance made a profit £1,455.45.
• Winner: Renaissance - By £181.81.
• Reward: A helicopter trip to Bowood House in Wiltshire.
• Brought into the boardroom: Lucinda, Jennifer and Lindi
• Fired: Lindi - For her poor sales tactics, refusing to accept responsibility for her faults, violating the task rules with the exclusivity deals, and failing to live up to repeated claims about herself.
• You're Fired Panel: James Averdieck, Carol Thatcher and Mark Price
• Notes:
  • Sir Alan said in the boardroom that had Alpha won, he would have disallowed it due to their sales to the cinema and pub chains being done on an exclusive basis; deals were supposed to open up new markets for the farmers. He also criticised Alpha for choosing shops that made their own ice cream, feeling it showed a lack of strategy. Both of these mistakes were blamed on Jennifer and Lindi. The panel on You're Fired also mocked the ice cream store strategy, saying that if they wanted new flavours they would have made them themselves.
  • One suggestion for Renaissance's ice cream was based on cocktails, such as "Vodka and Coke" and "Sex on the Beach"; this was vetoed after Michael expressed concern about how these would be received by families, making cinema deals all but impossible.
  • Sir Alan chose the project managers this week, since he wished to find out if the criticisms made of both women were justified. In response, Claire reined in her aggressive side, which earned praise from her team and Nick Hewer. Surprisingly Alpha were very positive about Lucinda's leadership even Helene despite the spat they had the previous week, and even Margaret was impressed, so Sir Alan decided she would not face dismissal. He noted the only direct mistake Lucinda made was backing down from her suggestion that manufacturers be on both sales teams, in the hope they could convey enthusiasm. Lucinda changed her mind after Jennifer, Lindi and Raef all voiced disapproval of the idea. While Sir Alan felt that Lucinda might have lacked the force of character to put her foot down, he also noted that Jennifer and Lindi had again shown poor judgement in sales tactics.
  • After Alpha were sent to the losers cafe, Lindi and Jennifer attempted to railroad the team into blaming Lucinda; this was stopped quickly by Lee, who pointed out that no-one had raised any serious concerns on that score during the task.
  • Jennifer came close to being fired, as Sir Alan considered her to have made many of the mistakes Lindi did, and did not like the fact that she constantly tried to shift blame to Lucinda. Her survival was largely down to Sir Alan feeling that she had been a bigger contributor to the previous four tasks than Lindi, but she was warned that she was on her last chance. On You're Fired!, the audience was nearly split, but ultimately went against Lindi's firing, while the Panel felt Jennifer should have been fired over Lindi, reflecting that Lindi merely got unlucky since she was second-in-command.

Week 6: Yours Truly, Angry Mob

• Renaissance: Kevin (Project Manager), Sara, Claire, Jenny and Alex.
• Alpha: Michael (Project Manager), Raef, Helene, Lee, Lucinda and Jennifer.
• Task: Create a new "occasion" for a range of greetings cards, then pitch them to three prospective retailers. Most orders received, wins.
• Task Review: Alpha came up with the idea of a "National Singles' Day" to be held on 13 February, and produced a range of cards intended as an alternative to Valentine's Day cards for single people. Alpha's first two pitches were relatively unsuccessful due to objections over the date, and so Michael removed it from their pitch to the Celebrations Group. This proved a smart move as Celebrations ordered a considerable number compared to the other retailers. On Renaissance, Jenny suggested an environmental card, and then forced it on the team by not doing any research for their other ideas. The retailers questioned whether environmentally conscious consumers would want to express their views by sending a card, and Kevin's aggressive pitching alienated Celebrations and in particular Clinton Cards, who accused him of "preaching" to them after he likened their unenthusiastic reception of the cards to the U.S. not doing enough to combat global warming. Kevin's pitch to Tesco was less aggressive and secured an order but neither of the other two ordered any at all.
• Result: Alpha received 22,500 orders (19,500 from Celebrations, and 1,500 apiece from Clinton Cards and Tesco), while Renaissance received 6,000 orders (from Tesco only).
• Winner: Alpha - By 16,500 orders.
• Reward: A private piano recital from Myleene Klass.
• Brought into the boardroom: Kevin, Claire, and Sara
• Fired: Kevin - For his awful sales pitches, refusing to allow Claire to pitch (despite her experience), allowing Jenny full control on creating the card, taking no responsibility for the loss, bringing Sara back in the boardroom in an attempt to scapegoat her instead of Jenny and for his overly arrogant attitude throughout the process.
• You're Fired Panel: Jessica Huie, Nick Hewer and Lorraine Kelly
• Notes:
  • Back at the house, Sara was the subject of a heated debate between several candidates - primarily Lee, Jenny and Alex - over her perceived laziness. Lee was heavily critical of her, while Raef was the only one shown on screen to jump to her defence. Claire, while not specifically defending Sara, pointed out that Kevin was to blame for the loss; it has been said that Lucinda also defended her off-camera. In the You're Hired special at the end of the series, Lee expressed regret over his handling of the situation, which he put down to nerves regarding being Project Manager in the next task. He added that he had since apologised to Sara, who likewise bore no ill-will towards him after their victory in the next task.
  • Michael spent 3 hours debating the correct way of spelling "National Singles' Day," and more specifically where the apostrophe in "Singles'" should go; at one point he even attempted to contact the editor of The Daily Telegraph to get advice on the matter, which was later mocked by Nick on You're Fired. He was also strongly castigated by Sir Alan for overly-celebrating after Alpha's victory was announced.
  • Jenny was heavily criticised by Sir Alan and Margaret for not only coming up with a poor idea for their cards, refusing to take any responsibility for the loss and blatantly trying to scapegoat Sara, but also for an incident in the Clinton Cards pitch where she suddenly declared that she no longer bought greetings cards because of their environmental impact. Sir Alan was appalled that she could not see the inherent contradiction in her own product.
  • Sir Alan questioned Claire on why she did not step up to do the pitches, considering that while Kevin was initially dead set on doing so, he later asked her to take over. Claire said that she would have been happy to early on, but Kevin left it so late that she felt she was being set up as a scapegoat. While Sir Alan noted that the team's theme had doomed them from the start, he doubted that any pitch given by Claire could possibly have been worse than Kevin's efforts, and told her that she should step up if a similar situation arose again.
  • On Why I Fired Them, Sir Alan strongly implied had Jenny been brought back, she would have been fired and Kevin would have been let off with a final warning. His failure to do so, along with his extreme arrogance, convinced Sir Alan that Kevin deserved to go anyway, citing he was "too full of himself".
  • The whole audience of You're Fired! and the panel agreed with the decision to fire Kevin, even Kevin himself admitted he deserved to be fired though he put it down to his performance as Project Manager.

Week 7: Marrakesh

• Renaissance: Jennifer (Project Manager), Michael, Claire, Jenny and Alex.
• Alpha: Lee (Project Manager), Raef, Sara, Helene and Lucinda.
• Task: Buy a set list of items in the marketplaces of Marrakesh, Morocco, negotiating for lower prices. Least amount spent (fines included), wins.
• Task Review: Alpha, despite spending time attempting to locate items before setting off, initially had difficulty when they arrived at the market (particularly Lee, Lucinda, and Sara). Helene and Raef got the cow hide for an amazingly small amount; Raef was visibly shocked when he first heard the offer. A second-hand Santos orange juicer was obtained in the last few minutes, but they bought it for a fair price. Alpha collected all ten items without penalties; while Nick was complementary of Lee's leadership, he also praised Sara and Lucinda. Renaissance's execution, on the other hand, was a shambles; Jennifer decided to go straight to the market, paying little attention to the dossier, which quickly resulted in disorganisation and mistakes. She, Alex and Claire bought a white mosque alarm clock instead of a green one, and did not realise until later, which meant they had to waste time changing it. Jenny and Michael attempted to sabotage Alpha by offering a sports store a bribe if they would incorrectly string a tennis racket that Alpha were in the middle of purchasing; however, the employees refused. Renaissance were fined for purchasing unbranded tajines and a halal chicken instead of a kosher chicken.
• Result: Renaissance's total spend was £603.59 (fines included), while Alpha's total spend was £413.61.
• Winner: Alpha - by £189.98.
• Reward: Hot air balloon flight around Leeds Castle
• Fired (during internal review): Jenny - For lying about the Kosher fiasco to try to get Michael fired, attempting to sabotage Alpha's efforts, her terrible attitude towards the other candidates, and for her generally average-at-best track record throughout the competition, despite her promising CV.
• Brought into the boardroom: Jennifer, Claire, and Michael
• Fired (during final boardroom): Jennifer - For her poor and disorganized leadership, not paying attention to the dossier, and rushing to the marketplace.
• You're Fired Panel: Michelle Mone, Alvin Hall and Vanessa Feltz
• Notes:
  • While Alex was negotiating for a rug, Claire complained about being tired and wanting to go back to the hotel, to pressure the seller into dropping the price faster. This gambit backfired however, as the seller instead froze the price and forced Alex to agree straight away so he could tend to his "girlfriend." Sir Alan indicated that had Renaissance lost the task by a narrow margin he would have fired Claire, but decided that other major mistakes outweighed hers.
  • Jenny and Michael did not specifically inform the others of their bribery attempt, only describing it as "espionage". When Margaret revealed exactly what they had attempted, their team-mates were outraged and had a fierce discussion outside the boardroom when they were sent out for the first time.
  • Due to Jenny's exceptionally dishonest behaviour, her mediocre overall track record, her refusal to take any responsibility for her actions, and her roles in the losses of Weeks 2 and 6, Sir Alan decided not to even wait for the final boardroom to fire her; when Renaissance was sent out, he had a brief discussion with Nick and Margaret, who agreed that while she had appeared a contender at the start, her dishonesty and poor attitude had changed their opinions entirely. Upon the team's return, Jenny immediately tried to change her story on the Kosher chicken incident again, hoping to shift the entire blame on Michael and get him fired, but Sir Alan interrupted and fired her straight-away. Due to this, Jenny became the first candidate to be fired without being brought back into the boardroom.
  • This episode marked the first occasion in the UK show where more than three people remained on the team, and the project manager was not allowed to choose two candidates who would also face Sir Alan in the final boardroom. At the end of the internal review, Sir Alan sent Alex back to the house, feeling his single mistake (purchasing the unbranded tajines) was the least serious error made by the remaining candidates; this left Jennifer, Michael and Claire to face the final boardroom.
  • Michael was grilled at length in the boardroom, not only for his role in the bribe attempt, but also over the fact that he had claimed to be "a good Jewish boy" on his application form, yet displayed no knowledge of Kosher and did not recognise the Hebrew greeting L'Chaim (Sir Alan even joked that Michael more than likely never had a circumcision). Ultimately, Sir Alan accepted that Jenny had been the main instigator in the bribe and that he could recognise an element of "youthful exuberance" in Michael's actions and claims. After he indicated Michael would get another chance, Jennifer became angry and effectively gave an ultimatum to fire her if he would not fire Michael. Sir Alan was enraged by this, but based his firing decision solely on her poor leadership.
  • In the You're Fired this week, while the audience unanimously agreed that Jenny deserved to be fired, they were more divided on Jennifer. While the panel decided that Jennifer deserved to be because she failed to read the dossier, they also agreed that dismissing Michael would have been justified. While Jennifer was not shown to be fired with regret on the main episode, it was revealed on You're Fired that she was.
  • This was the first time a UK Apprentice episode has been filmed outside of Europe. After this series, the world economy experienced a severe downturn and Sir Alan admitted that it would be inappropriate for the series to continue to be filmed in exotic locations. Consequently, most subsequent series have taken place exclusively in the UK, and the rare occasions where the candidates have visited another country have generally remained within the European Union. It wasn't until the fifth episode of Series 9 that the show would leave the EU again, for a task set in Dubai.

Week 8: Wedding Hell

• Renaissance: Helene (Project Manager), Sara, Michael and Alex.
• Alpha: Lucinda (Project Manager), Raef, Claire and Lee.
• Task: Select and sell wedding dresses and accessories at a wedding exhibition at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. Most sales made, wins.
• Task Review: Alpha decided to look at the dresses and accessories in separate sub-teams; Lucinda chose dresses by high-end designer Ian Stewart on Raef's recommendation, and this secured Alpha their accessory choice of bridal lingerie. Although the team had difficulty selling dresses at the start of the day, towards the end of the show, customers returned to make purchases. Praise was given to Claire's sales on the dresses, as well as Lee's work in selling the lingerie. Alpha sold three dresses, and good amount of lingerie as a result. In contrast to Alpha, Helene had both Renaissance sub-teams look at dresses and accessories. Despite Michael and Sara recommending the Ian Stewart dresses, Helene refused to consider them owing to their high price and instead went with a mid-range supplier. They also wanted the bridal lingerie, but lost out to Alpha and so instead went with wedding cakes, Michael and Sara's first choice. Renaissance sold five dresses almost solely through Alex, but failed to sell any cakes, mainly due to Michael and Sara's highly aggressive sales technique.
• Result: Alpha had total sales of £5,752.99, while Renaissance had total sales of £1,925.
• Winner: Alpha - By £3,827.99
• Reward: Luxury spa visit.
• Brought into the boardroom: Helene, Michael, and Sara
• Fired: Sara - For her aggressive manner towards customers, her inability to listen to others, not selling any cakes, and her general lack of contribution throughout the previous tasks.
• You're Fired Panel: Mary Portas, Mark Frith and Jane Moore
• Notes:
  • While Sir Alan told Helene that she lost the task right at the start by deciding to go for cheap dresses, and Margaret was also extremely critical of her leadership, she was given a second chance, as Sir Alan felt she had been impressive on most of the prior tasks.
  • After Sara's firing, Sir Alan appeared to be on the verge of firing Michael also. However, Michael was allowed to make the case for his survival, and Sugar agreed to let him continue, before sending Michael and Helene back to the house. Lee was, at this point, the only candidate who had not appeared in the final boardroom.
  • In spite of the choice of high-end dresses turning out to be a correct decision, Sir Alan and Nick expressed the view that Raef had been fortunate that it had turned out that way, since his choice had not taken into account any business justification outside of the high price.
  • A majority of the You're Fired! audience, combined with the panel, disagreed with the decision, though like Simon, Sara said that she did deserve to be fired. The general consensus for the decision was that Helene or Michael should have gone.

Week 9: Tissues

• Renaissance: Raef (Project Manager), Michael, Claire and Helene.
• Alpha: Alex (Project Manager), Lee and Lucinda.
• Task: Create a new brand of tissues along with television and print advertisements, then present them to a panel of advertising executives. Best brand and campaign made, wins.
• Task Review: Renaissance created a smart aesthetic design for their tissue box, branded "I ♥ my tissues". Michael and Raef were meticulous in directing their television advert, and hired weather forecaster Siân Lloyd to appear. Crucially however, in the editing suite their advert proved to be too long, and most of the material showing the product itself was removed in order to bring it down to the required length. In contrast, Alpha's efforts with both their tissue box design and advert were deemed relatively poor, and Lee was ill-prepared for their presentation, in contrast in Claire's professional one. In the boardroom, though Sir Alan deemed Renaissance's campaign to be "much, much better", he declared them the losers as no-one knew what their advert was about. Whilst telling Alpha that they had a "horrible campaign" and a "horrible box", their brand name, "Atishu!", was praised, and their advert and campaign were deemed attention-grabbing and, in stark contrast to Renaissance, gave a clear message about the product.
• Winner: Alpha - For a better brand name and advertising campaign.
• Reward: An after-hours shopping spree at Harvey Nichols (London).
• Brought into the boardroom: Raef, Claire, and Michael
• Fired: Raef - For losing focus on the requirements of the task due to his creative flair, editing out the close-up of the product in the commercial and because Sir Alan felt he got as far as he had through luck.
• You're Fired Panel: Louise Redknapp, Nick Howarth and Jo Elvin
• Notes:
  • During the reward, even the three members of Alpha admitted that they had expected to lose the task. Furthermore, on You're Hired, their advert - involving parents discussing the use of the tissues for their ill child - was pointed out as being humorously flawed on a number of points - the child being sent to school when she was ill, one parent pinching her nose (which would likely spread the illness), the mother appearing dazed, and the product appearing to have been chucked out of the back of the car into a flower bed.
  • Siân Lloyd's involvement in Renaissance's advert was criticised for having little relevance to the product or the events in the advert, and also for the very brief duration of her appearance in the edited version. Lloyd herself admitted on camera being unsure why she had been cast as a mother, considering she is single and has no children. Renaissance's brand name was also criticised by Sir Alan, who said he could not imagine anyone "loving their tissues". Nick Hewer commented that it would probably have worked as a tagline, but not as a brand name.
  • Sir Alan, before firing Raef, concluded that he (with all due respect) was nothing but 'hot air'. Michael and Claire were both given final warnings afterwards; Claire for not attempting to help with the editing, and Michael for his third consecutive appearance in the boardroom.
  • The majority of the You're Fired studio audience combined with the panel disagreed not only with the decision to fire Raef, but also to name Alpha victors. The panel felt that Michael most deserved to be fired out of the three in the final boardroom, and that all three members of Alpha would have been equally deserving of being fired; Alex for being unconvincing as project manager; Lee for his terrible presentation; Lucinda for contributing little and being uncooperative.

Week 10: Re-inventing the Wheel

• Renaissance: Michael (Project Manager), Claire and Helene.
• Alpha: Lee (Project Manager), Alex and Lucinda.
• Task: Rent out a set of luxury sports cars. Most sales made (by rental), wins.
• Task Review: The teams had a chance to review the available cars, before the project managers had to choose two for rental sale. Renaissance decided to choose the Ferrari and Spyker. Alpha chose the Aston Martin, and the risky and rare Pagani Zonda, with a price tag of £2,750 for just one day of rental. Claire and Helene had almost no difficulty attracting customers for the Spyker, but it was Claire who made the sales. Michael fruitlessly searched around for customers to rent the Ferrari, with one almost taking the offer. Alex and Lee struggled to find customers, but Lee eventually made deals to a few. Lucinda fared even worse as sales were not her natural area. After unsuccessfully asking Alex and Lee to help, Lucinda mistook the Aston for the Zonda, and sold nothing as a result. At the square, Claire and Michael got a few more buyers, but for hours not days. Meanwhile, Lucinda finally made a sale after shadowing Lee, and Alex struck a couple of large deals on the Zonda, including one just before the 6:00pm deadline.
• Result: Renaissance made sales of £2,114, while Alpha made sales of £11,815.
• Winner: Alpha - By £9,701
• Reward: Wine tasting at a Mayfair hotel.
• Brought into the boardroom: Michael, Helene and Claire
• Fired: Michael - For picking a poor market location, failing to deliver on his promises, his consistent attempts to take advantage of the others, appearing in the final boardroom four times in a row, and for his generally poor track record throughout the process.
• You're Fired Panel: Vicki Butler-Henderson, Trevor Nelson and Ruth Badger
• Notes:
  • Six luxury sports cars were featured; namely the Koenigsegg CCX, Pagani Zonda S, Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, Spyker C8, Aston Martin V8 Vantage and Ferrari 360 Spider.
  • While Lucinda won, she was criticised for her minimal contribution; her one deal only made £65.
  • Helene came perilously close to being fired due to her failure to make any sales, along with suspicions by Sir Alan and his advisers (particularly Margaret) that she had consciously decided to take a backseat due to her having the least sales experience of the three members of Renaissance, but was saved by the fact that Sir Alan felt she had been one of the strongest candidates prior to her three-week losing run, and decided to give her a chance in the interviews. The You're Fired panel, while agreeing with Michael's dismissal, felt that firing Helene instead of (or even alongside) Michael would also have been justifiable.
  • This was Claire's fifth appearance in the final boardroom, however, Sir Alan told Claire almost immediately she was not in any danger of being fired, since she had been responsible for the vast majority of the team's revenue.
  • On Why I Fired Them, Sir Alan reflected that he probably should not have given so many chances to Michael and that he was drawn in by his youth, even acknowledging that he did not always get it right.

Week 11: Interviews

• Semi-Finalists: Alex, Claire, Helene, Lee, and Lucinda
• Task: The five remaining candidates undergo a sequence of intense interviews by four of Sir Alan Sugar's business colleagues; Paul Kemsley, a property developer; Claude Littner, Sir Alan’s former "global trouble-shooter"; Karren Brady, the managing director of Birmingham City Football Club; and Bordan Tkachuk, the chief executive of the computer and IT firm Viglen, one of Sir Alan’s companies. The interviewers then report their impressions of the candidates back to Sir Alan to help him choose the finalists.
• Candidate Reviews: Claire was accused of being too talkative but otherwise got the best reports from the interviewers, with Karren Brady even offering to employ her if Sir Alan did not. Lee was considered to be a good all-round candidate, but got caught off-guard when asked to do a humorous impression by Paul, which backfired when he was told this demonstrated he did not seem to take the interview seriously. He was also reprimanded for exaggerating on his CV, lying about his length of time at university. Helene was also considered to have a good set of skills, but faced criticism for not having demonstrated any progression in work outside of her current company, and was accused of having a poor attitude after she repeatedly made insulting remarks about the other candidates (calling them "gobshites" and "amateurs"). Alex continuously came under fire, with his CV being highlighted as boring. While he argued that this was because he was only 24 years old, both Karen and Paul insisted that this was not an excuse, stating that they had achieved more than him by his age. However, he did earn some praise for his accomplishments as a salesman, particularly the fact that he had managed to earn a living purely from sales commission. Lucinda got the worst reports, as she was praised for being intelligent and an excellent team leader, but heavily criticised for being a "handful". The interviewers questioned her motives for wanting the job, and felt that her teamwork skills were weak.
• Final Decision: In the end, the interviewers agreed that Claire was the front-runner, but there was no clear consensus on who should be in the final with her. As a result, Sir Alan fired Lucinda, the only candidate who everyone agreed was totally unsuitable for his organisation, and put all of the other four candidates through to the final.
• Fired: Lucinda, with regret - For being "too zany", having a degree unrelated to business (in aromatherapy), and for giving doubts over how much she desired the job.
• You're Fired Panel: Rachel Robertson, Michael McIntyre and Claire Balding
• Notes:
  • Only one candidate was fired, despite the fact that Sir Alan had previously said that three people were going to get fired. This was because he felt that he could not separate the four finalists based on what he had seen so far, so he chose to have them face one last test to help him with his final decision. In the episode, Lucinda was not shown to be fired with regret, however, in the Why I Fired Them episode, she was.
  • After the end of one of her interviews, Lucinda started to question whether she really desired the job. In the boardroom, Alex picked up on this and brought it up in the boardroom, damaging Lucinda's chances of remaining in the competition. He was accused by the You're Fired panel of being a snake, and was mocked for his extremely defensive responses to the interviewers' questions. Michael McIntyre also mocked his CV.
  • The majority of the You're Fired audience combined with two of the panellists agreed with Sir Alan's decision, even Lucinda herself thought it was fair and the right decision to make.

Week 12: The Final

• Finalists: Alex, Claire, Helene, and Lee
• Teams:
  • Claire and Lee's team: Claire and Lee (joint Project Managers), Michael, Jenny and Simon.
  • Helene and Alex's team: Helene and Alex (joint Project Managers), Raef, Kevin and Jennifer.
• Task: Develop an original fragrance for men, and then market it at an industry event. The best concept wins, and from the winners, one will be hired.
• Task Review: Helene and Alex's team struggled for name ideas, and it was eventually left to a product designer to suggest a bottle design, which eventually evolved into their brand, DUAL. The first day of the task saw the team struggle to work together, as Helene constantly argued with Alex and their team-mates and did not contribute many ideas, causing Alex to have to rely on Kevin for help with most of the key decisions. The team dynamic greatly improved on the second day, and they pulled everything together in time for the presentation. Meanwhile, Claire and Lee's team named their fragrance R0ULETTE, playing on associations with gambling and James Bond. They replaced the 'O' on the name with a '0', representing the 0 on a roulette wheel. At DUAL's presentation, while the design of the bottle was innovative, including a detachable smaller bottle, it was more expensive to produce and therefore not fitting the given retail price of £29.95, but despite the major error, the experts loved the smell of the fragrance, which smelled of caramel and chocolate; although it was also pointed out that it was a (seemingly accidental) copy of a fragrance that Helene normally wears, Angel. Meanwhile, at its presentation, R0ULETTE was criticised by both an industry representative and Sir Alan, as likely to be unpopular with women buyers due to the gambling connotation. The experts also stated the fragrance was "retro 50", as in "boring". Sugar expressed that although Claire's question and answer skills were excellent, it does not help sell fragrances. Despite the fact that several of the team-members (most notably Claire and Simon) hadn't gotten along in the past, the team worked together well. In the end, Sir Alan felt that despite the theme of Claire and Lee's fragrance being a turn-off for female buyers, the design of DUAL's bottle proved fatally flawed, costing Helene and Alex greatly.
• Task Winners: Claire and Lee - For a concept that was not heavily flawed, despite the theme's issues.
• Fired: Alex and Helene - For a costly bottle design, plus the following additional reasons:
  • Alex - For his overly defensive nature, failing to show other skills than selling, and for having the least impressive track record and CV of the final four candidates.
  • Helene - For her highly negative attitude throughout the process, taking a backseat during the first day, and for trying to shift responsibility for the bottle's price onto Alex.
• Final Boardroom: Left with Claire and Lee, Sir Alan contemplated on who had done better, and eventually made his decision based on his views of the final two:
  • Runner-Up: Claire - For giving doubts about employing her in the long-term, despite Sir Alan complimenting her on the improvement she had shown over the course of the series.
  • Winner: Lee - For being "very resilient" and "very convincing" and for improved his presenting skills by "100%".
• Notes:
  • Throughout the entire season, Renaissance only won two tasks, while Alpha won eight. Alpha therefore holds the record for the most wins, and Renaissance holds the record for the most losses.
  • This is the first time two candidates were fired simultaneously, as usually Sir Alan would fire one candidate and then proceed to fire a second candidate; only the nature of this final created the situation for doing so and consequently Alex and Helene appeared on You're Fired! together instead of being introduced separately (although Helene was interviewed first).
  • Helene spent her exit interview badmouthing Alex, accusing him of being solely responsible for the loss because he was the one who accepted the bottle design (though she subsequently retracted her remarks on the You're Hired special that followed the episode). By contrast, Alex (who had his own taxi) was tearful and didn't say much beyond lamenting that he had been "so close, but so far."
  • Lee became the first (and to date, only) UK Apprentice winner never to appear in the final boardroom at any point during the series, and alongside Paul Tulip from Series 2, one of only two people overall never to be brought back (not counting Raleigh Addington from Series 6, who escaped being brought back in the first task, then resigned from the show, and Lindsay Booth from Series 10, who was fired before she even appeared in the final boardroom).
  • Alex is currently the only candidate to lose as Project Manager in the first task and remain in the process until the final.

Related programmes

Four additional hour-long specials accompanied Series Four; The Apprentice: Worst Decisions Ever, The Apprentice: Motor Mouths, each revisiting candidates from the previous three series and two candidate profile programmes entitled The Apprentice: The Final Five and The Apprentice: Why I Fired Them.

An Apprentice version of the Weakest Link also accompanied the series, with major characters from all four series competing for their chosen charities. The contestants were (in order of elimination):

• Kevin Shaw (Series 4)
• Paul Torrisi (Series 1)
• Katie Hopkins (Series 3)
• James Max (Series 1)
• Ian Stringer (Series 4)
• Tre Azam (Series 3)
• Jenny Celerier (Series 4)
• Kristina Grimes (Series 3)
• Jo Cameron (Series 2)

Despite being the strongest link in the penultimate round, Jenny was eliminated. Jo defeated Kristina in the final and donated £11,550 to her chosen charity.

Criticism and controversy

Helene Speight

Former contestant Helene Speight alleged that The Apprentice "turns people into monsters" and stated that the show "made her life a nightmare." revealing that during filming she collapsed with stress and had to be rushed to hospital but still had to face Sir Alan "wincing in pain". Speight also stated that being on the show was the biggest mistake of her life as she nearly "lost her life and sanity". During Week 8 she started getting sharp abdominal pains and managed to hold on by taking painkillers. In response the producers took Helene to the Princess Grace Hospital in London's West End where she was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. On her diagnosis Speight said: "The doctors said it was all due to the pressure of the show and the diet I was eating. Hours later I was getting a boardroom grilling from Sir Alan after the wedding task." and added "I was shaking with nerves convinced I was about to throw up all over Sir Alan and his sidekicks Nick and Margaret."

Nicholas De Lacy Brown and Alex Wotherspoon

Former contestant Nicholas De Lacy Brown claimed to receive death threats from watchers of the show and he says that "the messages said they want to kill or injure me." with one reading "something like: 'If I see you, I'll hurt you'."" however he remained defiant and said he would not be intimidated by the messages and said that his "ego is bigger since I went on The Apprentice because of all the attention. In fact, my ego is huge now."" De Lacy Brown was also claimed to have failed 18 job interviews. Apprentice finalist Alex Wotherspoon also reported receiving death threats, one email being under investigation from the BBC.

Michael Sophocles and Lindi MnGaza

Contestant Michael Sophocles has been the subject of some controversy, firstly for being a self-confessed "arrogant" person, and secondly, most notably, for claiming to be "a good Jewish boy" on his application to the show, but under closer questioning not knowing either the meaning of "kosher" or the common Hebrew toast "L'Chaim" (translated "to life" as per the Fiddler on the Roof song of that name), likewise when going into the boardroom he was shown doing the sign of the cross. The ineptitude of Sophocles, who read classics and history at Edinburgh University, prompted Margaret Mountford (herself Cambridge-educated) to opine that "Edinburgh isn't what it used to be". Sophocles was also reported to have been dating fellow candidate Lindi Mngaza, despite the latter being in a committed relationship at the time.

Jenny Celerier

Jenny Celerier became the subject of controversy after she was accused of bullying several fellow candidates (most notably Lucinda Ledgerwood and Sara Dhada) in her series, even being compared to Series 3 candidate Katie Hopkins. Celerier stirred up more controversy after it was revealed she suffered meningitis during the filming of the programme, and was reported to have cheated on ex-boyfriend, Marc Sugden. The same article reported that she left her son, Simon, alone to play by a hotel pool whilst she was sunbathing, engaged in bondage games and boasted of a three-in-a-bed sex romp with two other men.

Simon Smith

Five years after he left the Army former contestant Simon Smith was reported by Digital Spy to have an addiction to cocaine and that the habit affected his marriage and eventually led to the breakdown of his marriage especially in 2002 on his honeymoon where he put his addiction over his then-wife Debra. He had joined the Army at the age of 17 and nine years later when he left, he found himself struggling to adjust back to civilian life and used the drug to ease his pain.

On the addiction he said "As soon as I got off the plane there were people offering me drugs. So I spent the whole holiday wasted," Simon told the Sunday Mirror. "I left my wife in the room and sneaked out at night - on my f***ing honeymoon! Disgusting. I blew over £20,000 on cocaine in five years. I was completely selfish. My whole life revolved around getting wrecked. The same competitive streak you saw in The Apprentice meant I felt I had to out-drink everyone, take more drugs than anyone else. I completely ripped my ex-wife's life apart. There is not a day goes by without me regretting how selfish I was. I broke her heart."

Ian Stringer

Candidate Ian Stringer became embroiled in controversy after his ex-wife Kirsty branded him a loverat after he left her just three weeks after she gave birth to their second child. Stringer claimed on the show "There are two types of people in the world - winners and... I don't know how to spell the other word. I can't even say it." But Kirsty claimed that he really was a loser for abandoning his toddler son and daughter in a quest for fame on the show. She claimed that Stringer had left her struggling financially after he gave up his job and £35,000 salary to go on the show. Stringer was also reported to have hid in a pub cellar to avoid being beaten by the boyfriend of ex-air hostess, Angela Rawson, whom he had dated despite Rawson being a committed relationship at the time.

Ratings

Official episode viewing figures are from BARB.

Episode no.	Airdate	Viewers (millions)	BBC One weekly ranking
1	26 March 2008	6.73	8
2	2 April 2008	6.73	9
3	9 April 2008	7.32	6
4	16 April 2008	7.43	5
5	23 April 2008	7.85	5
6	30 April 2008	7.28	5
7	7 May 2008	7.17	5
8	14 May 2008	7.11	6
9	21 May 2008	5.73	9
10	28 May 2008	6.84	6
11	4 June 2008	7.94	4
12	11 June 2008	9.29	1

Specials

Episode no.	Airdate	Viewers (millions)	BBC Two/One weekly ranking
The Worst Decisions Ever
	3 April 2008	2.07	15
Motor Mouths
	18 April 2008	1.73	25
The Final Five
	2 June 2008	N/A	N/A
Why I Fired Them
	8 June 2008	N/A	N/A

External links

• The Apprentice at BBC Online