There are still a few that just seem to be flying under the radar. not a clue who the are or what they do.

Debra, Phil and Kate seem to get most airtime from what I have seen so far.

I think its looks fairly obvious even this early the ones who will get to the end.

Lee was quite background at this stage last year and apart from the Laundry incident so was Lucinda, both went on to be quite big characters. So I don't think it matters. Lee infact, didn't do much till Marakesh (he admits it was to stop himself getting fired). As they are whittled down, they're personalities tend to grow and people who were wallpaper early on go on to be finalists.

DundeeBoy you post this same thing every year in every reality TV forum.

I agree there are some wallpaper characters but one has gone tonight.

It may be due to editing though, they tend to concentrate on the louder, brasher ones. I'd like to see more of Paula, but I'm not sure whether she's just quiet and/or gets no air time. There's a couple of them I forget exist. Maybe as time goes by we'll see more of them.

Yes I am glad one has gone, the characters stay in this, its not Big Brother after all

They also tend to concentrate on people who get fired early. The ones who stay to the end, get their air-time at the end. Especially if they are quietly competent; if they make embarrassing mistakes those might get shown.

Michelle was fairly non-descript for much of the early episodes of series 2 but went on to win the thing.

It's difficult to give all the candidates equal coverage early on and it's difficult for everyone to participate fully and get themsleves noticed.

I think with the Apprentice its a bit harder to share out air time, because some candidates are obviously going to get more airtime just for coming up with more ideas and being more productive than others.

Its the quiet ones you have to watch in this mind, none of the winners were particularly visible this early on except for Tim, and that was mainly cos he was PM twice early on.

It does seem to be very focused on Phillip, Debra, Ben, Kate and James early on. I can see Howard doing well - he gets a decent part every week despite not really seeming to do that much!

Kate strangely seems to turn up saying something intelligent in the edit most weeks and then just appears in the background rather than the rows , or as tonight is seen doing a reasonably good job. One to watch.

What was Kate's intelligent contribution tonight?

I'm still getting over her cringeworthy attempts to pitch food last week!

Are people really seeing that much of Kate? I haven't and I've watched it all so far, maybe she just stands out to some because people know she's the girl who gets in the relationship? Haven't seen her contribute anything worthy.

Neither have I.

She's pretty much been a non-entity. The only time she was delegated an important task, she made a pig's ear of it.

I think Kate would actually be a wallpaper contestant if she didn't have her looks. Because of her looks she sticks out.

Kate came to my attention in the first ep, where she was the only one who spoke against spending the whole £200, pointing out that it would eat into their profit. She said that in the warehouse, before it was too late.

The negotiating over catering was painful to watch, but to be fair she'd had very little time to prepare. It looked like she'd been told the menu by phone immediately before going into the meeting. (She also queried the low-cost food, but so did a lot of people, and it seemed too late to fix it.)

She seemed to be doing a lot of the pitching on tonight's task, and did OK at that.

I like her. I first noticed Michelle in task 3, and she stood out for me in task 4, and always seemed pretty good to me in the following episodes. (Even TopShop.)

I agree Howard is the one to watch. I thought he did ok in the boardroom last week. At one point SAS repeated as he fired Rocky for making inmuture mistakes which Howard said moments before.
Had Rocky thought about it he would of still been on the programme.

Cannot see James going much further & although Debra was PM & on the winning team it did not go well with SAS giving praise to Philip & Lorrane.

Don't know what Noorle has done but liked Nick's ' I made it my bussness to watch you' last week.

Personally I like Yasmina but not sure how far she will go?

I think this series has had little real conflict, not like previous series where there was more shouting and more slagging off. This lot seem fairly calm and seem to get on most of the time which doesn't make for the most exciting viewing. Apart from the obligatory boardroom stuff where the candidates have to find fault with each other, there's been little real conflict during the tasks which might explain why some viewers struggle to remember some of the candidates.

From what I've seen so far I'm only certain of Howard and Phil. Howard seems to see the angles, Phil is fairly creative and a good all-rounder.

I like Mona from the first task and she defended herself fairly well, but she also broke down in the boardroom. I don't think she's weak, but she looked weak. Her silly comment tonight didn't help either.

James is weak.

Kate seems like a follower and critciser, not a leader.

Yasmina seems to have the opposite problem, she's a born leader but not a great team player - who did she think she was giving John Lewis a guarantee like that

I'm warming to Debra, but it looks like her card is marked.

Really can't see Lorraine winning.


I don't like Ben. At all. I agree he has a chance, but I really don't want him to win.

Nooral has soodal chance

I can't even remember the names of the american girl or the red-head so I guess they'll probably win

Which comment was that? I don't seem to remember.

The American girl has hardly been featured in the show. The editor clearly doen't think much of her. I think the editor and producers must have their favourites, people they think will make for more exciting viewing. The thing is, if the quiet ones survive long enough they will make an impact, be heard and seen. Some might be playing it quiet, waiting for their moment....

What the hell's a 'wallpaper candidate'?

I'm guessing it means someone who hasn't done much so far - so Paula, Kimberley and Noorul most certainly are wallpaper candidates.