The Apprentice 2014 review: A shock 'double elimination' keeps the candidates on their toes

No one was safe in the boardroom as Lord Sugar shook things up

Neela Debnath
Thursday 16 October 2014 06:46 BST
Comments
Team Tenacity pitch their fetching solar powered, mobile phone charging, heated, flashy jacket
Team Tenacity pitch their fetching solar powered, mobile phone charging, heated, flashy jacket

And then there were 17 vacuous idiots.

Pass-the-buck Scott McCulloch bids farewell to the boardroom this week, as does shirker and luxury fashion retailer Robert Goodwin. Poor old Hoxtonite Robert left even before the boys got to the sad, little café.

Alan Sugar seems to be taking a leaf out of Simon Cowell’s book this year, just like X Factor, the Amstrad boss has thrown more contestants into the mix and introduced double eliminations.

Instead of adding more drama to the series, it’s turned the show into a parody of itself. The IQ level of the contestants on The Apprentice has hit an all-time low this year, by increasing the number of candidates inevitably the overall intelligence of the teams has markedly plummeted.

At least a good third of the show is now spent watching people nonsensically shouting over each other. There’s even more backstabbing and cattiness but it’s drowned out by all the yelling.

Even the quality of the candidates is questionable.

"Are we a 100 per cent sure on what it means?" personal trainer and fitness expert Katie Bulmer-Cooke asks the others, as the girls settle on re-branding themselves “tenacity”. It was a struggle trying to grasp the meaning of “decadence” last week but this is just getting ridiculous.

The boys again are not much better. “I wouldn’t wear it in public,” the mouthy Daniel Lassman assures representatives from Firebox during his pitch to the online retailer. It’s a miracle he’s still here.

Lord Sugar must secretly be chuckling to himself after witnessing the disaster products created in this week’s wearable technology task.

The boys show off the creepy video camera jumper

Team Tenacity’s jacket looks like it was designed by a Blue Peter competition winner. Not only does it have Eighties statement shoulder pad solar panels, it re-charges mobile phones and heats up – but best of all – the lapels have LED lights for those special occasions.

While Team Summit's creepy video camera jumper that comes with the unofficial slogan “privacy is history” is marginally less absurd.

Margaret Mountford is probably glad she made her exit when she did. Now poor, old Karren Brady must be dismayed with having to work with a bunch of cretins who spout hot air and duck any sort of responsibility.

Nick is still just frowning with disapproval.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in