The thought occurred to me today, incidentally, that in the four series up to now, the final winner has always been someone who was never brought into the boardroom by their PM on any task (though some were in as defeated PMs).

There are only three candidates now that fit this category; Kate, Mona and Noorul. I think most will agree that Noorul and Mona aren't going to win. Does this perhaps augur well for Kate?

May do. Better still if you can do a Kendra from US series (3 ?) and get to the end winning every task when you are PM and never being taken back into the boardroom.

Usually, at this point of the apprentice, I have a favourite but I still have no idea who I like - let alone win.

Tim (series 1) was brought back in when his team leader was defeated in episode 10 - but he couldn't really avoid being brought back, as there were only three members on that team so all three members were in the firing line. He certainly never got brought back in while another team member was not brought back.

Why's everyone raving about Kate so much when yes, she was a good team leader but hey, they did catch on to a good idea? I doubt if it had been rubbish that she'd have lead or performed so well, it's luck of the draw and I don't believe she made all her luck tbh.

I think Debra is the only plausible one for me who can win it. The other ones all fail at one thing or another....

Mostly from things Tuan wrote online during that series. In those days the BBC were less strict about preventing candidates from talking.

See for example #88 in this thread.


And Tim in s1ep10 was brought in because there were only 3 people on the team and the leader had no choice,. He wasn't really blamed for the loss. Good observation. It was also true of non-winners James that year, and Ansell and Paul in s2.

I agree. We saw in the previous task what a good team it was. There seemed to be no friction on the soap task, they made a good product and sold well, with Paula as leader. Kate was a good leader but she was also handed a good team to lead. Had she had to deal with Philip and Lorraine's bickering, we'd have really seen what she was made of.

surely SAS would only employ kate,howard,deb and yasmina i cant see anyone else winning!

hope its kate, but like many others i can see her falling at the last hurdle,

I think we're going to see another all-female final this year, as 3 of the 4 strongest candidates IMO are female. I can only see one, possibly two men getting anywhere near the final and it's bloody unlikely they'll be in it together.

I'd forgotten that. But yes, as you say, the PM had no choice.

What does Kate need to do to satisfy some people? She'd performed well in every task (except for the problem with the menu presentation; partly but not wholly her fault) up to last week, and people kept saying "Ha, but wait till she's tested as a team leader". So last week we saw her tested in this role and merge triumphant - but some still won't give her the credit.

Re Brangdon's point about the team, yes, Philip and Lorraine were both appalling, but perhaps that was partly because Kimberley was rather weak and failed to stand up to Philip. Kate on the other hand was pretty decisive and very much in charge, and she had some problematic characters, Ben for instance, in her team too.

There are a lot of dead wood candidates still to bump off yet so its really a question of what order they go in. But Kate and Debra do seem front runners at the moment.

I'd love to know what people thought of Lee McQueen's chances at this point in the game.

I actually think the field is a lot wider because there is still plenty of time for people to make spectacular gaffes or perform heroically.

I think the top 3 contenders are Kate, Debra and Yasmina - and I have Debra down as a shoe in for runner up anyway. Kate is my tip - in my opinion she is the best of the lot at the moment.

Michelle deserved her win 100% - I think people just forget her because she got on with it and wasnt in the limelight that much. The topshop task wasnt her finest hour, but it wasnt that bad, and she made up for it in her other PM task. I strongly disagree with anyone who says she used her history to her advantage - the only time that even remotely came into the show was when she was asked about her buying her brothers gifts, and she said "they get what they want." Thats litterally it for the whole series - it was all in the papers about her rough childhood, not on the show.

SAS's adding problems as the weeks go on. Debra has to give him an argument why she's changed enough or he would look like condoning her behaviour towards Nick. Yasmina is tainted by the cheap food at high price stigma which isn't a good image. Ben and Philip are mortally damaged and he's marked their card. Lorraine is getting some things right but SAS employs a swinger isn't a good headline and the news coming out this early suggests she has gone. Doesn't leave many one you discount Mona.

Got to disagree there mate. Far from that tainting her, it showed she had the brians to relalise what the objective was (to make the most profit) and in fact I remeber Margeret giving SA a very glowing report on Yasmina's work in this task. She had all the team behind her and showed great leadership.

Since then, apart from one the big error 2 weeks ago which would have tainted her somewhat I think she has got on with the job very well.

Kate can win, thats for sure. I would actually only considering hiring those two from what I have seen so far. Possibly James as well.

Its true she got the point when most didn't and its true SAS might like to do the same thing - but she did make it too obvious and you would think he wouldn't want to add to the suspicion he's supplying cheap tat at a good markup. On the other hand you wouldn't imagine that he would pick Lee with all the worse messages that sent out either.

I agree with 3 out of 4.

Phil has made a number of mistakes so unless SAS wants a "rough diamond" he's out. Frankly, he's too gobby.

I reckon James will have a chance - he is far from being a village idiot, and is steadily improving.

I would have thought Debra ruined any chance she had of winning after the way she acted toward Nick in the boardroom. Just another loudmouth.

Ben, Debra and Phillip I doubt will ever win. The 'fence sitters' Mona and Howard I don't think can either unless they do a bit more in the future episodes.

I still think James mouth will ruin it for him. So I think it's between Kate and Yasmina. Both have been very professional at points. Lorraine I'm not sure, she could do it.

Female winner this year I think.