Although The Apprentice is very much a showcase of Britain’s brightest business prospects, behind closed doors we all admit to watching it just to witness the spectacular car crashes when candidates get a little too big for their boots. Ahead of tonight’s final, here are a selection of our favourites, and be sure to let us know of yours in the comments…
Teleshopping Disaster
We kick off with a memorable fail way back in the third series, where candidates were tasked with selling products live on a TV shopping channel. One genius thought selling a wheelchair on live TV would prove lucrative, and lines were fluffed more often than Lord Sugar declares “you’re fired”. The highlight of the episode? Witnessing His Lordship’s enraged reactions as the horror unfolded. Apprentice comedy value at its best.
The Relationship Guru
What do men dislike the most – vegetables, waxing or cricket? That’s just one of the questions asked in the thrilling board game The Relationship Guru. You and the love of your life can waste an entire evening answering awkward questions such as “women like men to ask them out on a date via…email, text or tweet?” giving a night to remember. When the team’s research focus group heard this, they quipped “none of the above…?” and the group experienced a crushing boardroom defeat.
Wearable Technology
It’s fairly common for there to be one dud product in a creative task, but when told to design a new tech-enhanced item of clothing, both teams fell flat. The boys produced ‘On Air’, a grey jumper with Christmas lights and a creepy camera at chest height. The team even turned on it, with Daniel declaring in a pitch “I wouldn’t wear it in public”, and Robert later stating “privacy is history”. The girls didn’t fare any better, producing a suit jacket with solar panels as shoulder pads. Oh, with a few Christmas lights tacked on. Y’know, to “add value”.
The Tidy-Sidey
We get that it can be difficult to come with wildly creative product ideas in just a few hours. But even so – how do you end up with that? Tasked with creating a new flat-pack furniture item, the boys came up with a fantastic chair that folds into – therefore doubling up as – a table. The girls, on the other hand, come up with the tidey-sidey – a multi-functional cube with interlocking sides for ease of assembly. In ordinary terms, it was a box on wheels which Lord Sugar thought looked “like something you’d see in the 1970s in East Germany” – and we can’t say we disagree.
A Skeleton Made of Paper?
A team previously torn apart by bickering and conflict is united. It’s one of the first times in Apprentice history that the entire London negotiation task is completed. They arrive back at the boardroom in time and secure an easy win. But the whole thing collapses when Felipe the smart-arse lawyer decides to purchase an unbuilt skeleton made of paper instead of the 3D, solid, large and anatomical one that was requested, in attempt to impress the boss with his legal knowledge. In fact he wasn’t impressed, and much to the dismay of his fellow candidates, the fine that followed cost the team the entire task despite the other successes. The highlight was project manager Daniel stating “I’m not someone with a law degree” when asked what a skeleton was.
So there we have it. What Apprentice moments have made you bury your head in your hands? Share them in the comments below and at @CelebMix on Twitter.