<i>IoS</i> Apprentice: 'The romantic sub-plot was hilarious'

One of The Independent on Sunday's apprentices, 23-year-old Stacey Mackie from Aviemore, Scotland, a professional cookery apprentice at the De Vere Heron's Reach resort in Blackpool, gives her verdict on week seven of Sir Alan Sugar's reality TV show. The teams were sent to Liverpool and Manchester to pick two innovative products to sell. Sir Alan fired County Durham estate agent Philip Taylor for his arrogance and failure to make a single sale.

"I can't stand Lorraine [Tighe]. I don't know why, I just can't stand her. But I think Sir Alan was right to fire Philip because he was so vicious to her and didn't perform well. I still think she will get fired next week though.

"I did love the boardroom stuff this week, they were really tearing into each other and the whole thing became a bit of a joke.

"Both teams made awful product choices but it was still a pretty good episode. The romantic sub-plot between Kate [Walsh] and Philip was hilarious; I think she used him very cleverly and will probably move on to Ben [Clarke] now, and get him fired too.

"Out of the girls, my favourite is definitely Mona [Lewis], and I think she might win it. But from the boys it is hard to pick a favourite. At a push I guess it would be Ben or James [McQuillan], but they were both quite quiet this week."

Jack Sidders