The Apprentice: Lord Sugar teases gruelling boardroom shock in preview for next episode

It seems he doesn’t think this year’s crop are good enough for a ‘final five’

The next episode of The Apprentice looks set to be a dramatic one that could change the format of the series.

With the latest run of the BBC series three weeks away from its conclusion, viewers are gearing up to find out who will become Lord Sugar’s next business partner.

In Thursday night’s episode (3 March), Akshay Thakrar was fired, leaving just six candidates remaining.

As noted in the episode, the next instalment will be the last one before the final five make it to the fan favourite interview stage, in which the remaining candidates are grilled by Lord Sugar’s closest aides.

However, in the preview for next week’s episode, Lord Sugar hints that he thinks this year’s crop of contestants aren’t all good enough to make it that far.

“Four people in what used to be the famous five – that’s what you’ve done to me,” he can be heard saying, suggesting there could be a double elimination to come.

The current favourites to make it to the finale are Kathryn Burn and Harpreet Kaur, closely followed by Aaron Willis, Stephanie Affleck and Brittany Carter.

Next week’s ‘Apprentice’ boardroom could feature a double firing (BBC)

Akeem Bundu Kamara is the favourite to be eliminated from the competition in the next episode, although it remains to be seen if someone else could join him.

Playing detective, it seems by the above photo that Aaron, Kathryn and Britanny are teamed up, meaning Akeem, Harpreet and Stephanie will also be in a team.

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If the odds are to be believed, and Akeem is placed in the firing line, this would mean that Harpreet and Stephanie would be in danger of elimination.

After being fired last night (3 March), Akshay reflected on being the source of a rare Lord Sugar moment featured in the latest episode.

The Apprentice continues next Thursday (10 March) on BBC One at 9pm.