The Apprentice airs twist as candidate walks before task even begins

It marks a first for the BBC1 business competition

(BBC)

The latest series of BBC reality series The Apprentice is officially in full swing with episode four airing last night (27 October).

Following on from episode two's shock that saw Lord Sugar fire two candidates after deeming no team worthy of a win, the latest installment saw another curveball thrown the audience's way.

With the task set and project managers selected, one candidate decides enough is enough and announces she is leaving the competition.

Aleksandra King quit after finding the process 'too overwhelming' (BBC)

The business consultancy owner elaborated upon her decision in an interview with Radio Times.com: “Obviously the initial response of Grainne and Lord Sugar was ‘Oh she couldn’t hack it,’ but it’s nothing at all like that," she stated. "I felt that there were two things that perhaps didn’t fit with me about the process.

“First there’s a little bit of a blame culture going on, which causes a lot of unnecessary stress - and the other thing was that I just felt like the whole work/life balance thing was off, and I felt like the really limited contact I had with my family was just not good enough really."

Her decision didn't impact Lord Sugar's about firing another candidate, however, with Mukai Noiri the latest to have the business mogul's finger pointed at him.

The Apprentice continues BBC1 on Thursdays.