BBC One’s The Apprentice continued tonight and while we’re only on Week 2, the latest episode delivered shocking exits, kitchen disasters and a classic firing from Lord Alan Sugar.
Last week’s 2023 premiere ended with accountant executive Emma Browne becoming the first candidate to officially leave the boardroom after the teams’ Antigua task. With the boys’ team achieving their first win, the girls were hoping to emerge victorious from the second week.
The remaining contestants met Lord Sugar at The Shard, where he revealed they would be manufacturing bao buns – savoury buns for the public and sweet buns to sell to a corporate client. The team that made the most profit would win the task overall.
Tim Campbell also returned for episode 2, with Lord Sugar announcing that Claude Littner had been taken ill and would be replaced as his aide by the season 1 winner.
With the task starting, Megan Hornby volunteered to be the girls’ project leader, while Bradley Johnson stepped forward for the boys’ team.
Over on the girls’ team, they decided to sell fish bao buns to the public, with Megan choosing a reluctant Shannon Martin to be in charge of quantities and costs on the manufacturing side. Unfortunately, they struggled with the calculations, over-ordering buns and under-ordering fish.
As for the corporate clients, the boys’ team undersold their sweet buns to luggage company Trunki, dropping the price from £8 to £3.80, and dealt with a kitchen nightmare when the buns appeared to split during the steaming process.
Meanwhile, the girls had to drop the price of their corporate buns from £9 to £5 after corporate client Swingers was disappointed with the quality of the product.
Over at the market stalls, the boys kept their savoury buns at a fixed price and struggled to sell them towards the end of the day, while the girls increased the price of their buns and charged for extra sauces and toppings.
With the task over, the candidates returned to the boardroom and Shannon shocked everyone by announcing that she was quitting the process.
Karen Brady and Tim Campbell then announced the results of the task, with the girls’ profit of £754.60 winning against the boys’ profit of £595.35.
While the girls’ team was treated to a luxury dining experience, the boys headed to losers cafe La Cabana, with Bradley deciding to bring in Avi Sharma (who was at fault for the buns splitting) and Kevin D’Arcy (who was in charge of the market stall).
Lord Sugar was ultimately disappointed with Bradley’s skills as project leader and acknowledged Avi’s mistake in the kitchen, however he decided to fire Kevin for his lack of forward-thinking whilst selling buns to the public.
There are now just 16 candidates left in the competition and next week, they’ll be tasked with creating a new preschool cartoon to pitch to industry experts.
The Apprentice continues on BBC One and BBC iPlayer next Thursday at 9pm. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide, or visit our dedicated Entertainment hub.
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