I'd put money on Kate making it to the final two given today's mirror report (http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/...5875-21344927/) which quotes a 'source' as saying:

"Philip knows she has her heart set on winning the job with Sir Alan so he won't do anything to jeopardise that in the next few weeks...."

This clearly implies Kate is still competing, which as everyone knows only applies to the final two as they are the only ones not fired well before the series is aired.

I wouldn't take any tabloid quote from "a source" seriously at all, it means nothing.

Kate is a strong candidate so is very likely to make the final anyway, but not because "a source" implied as much.

Kate and Yasmina are serious punts.

Howard sort of fits the profile - fly a little bit under the radar for the first half and then pick it up towards the end, never really offending people on the way. But he really needs to show something soon, or he'll suffer from being too background al a Lohit.

I think Debra and James are able (and the latter is very likeable) but I don't see either of them fitting into what SAS wants. Debra is too forward for him and aggressive. James is perhaps just not SAS's cuppa cha. I spy a "with regret" finger.

Ben has no chance. I very much doubt Lorraine or Mona do either.

So that'll be two then.

I think this year James is the stand out from the show, not a hope of winning, but all round nice guy, who's had me in stitches every time he opens his mouth. Really hope he gets an opportunity to show some sort of skill before he leaves.

Ben aaaaargh!!! Compulsive viewing I'm ashamed to say. This years Kate, so maybe an outside chance.

I'm still at "who the hell is Howard and what does he do exactly?" phase. To me he sits around, looking like he's on the verge of tears all the time. Potential winner for being least offensive, as all previous winners have been.

Yasmeena, I like her, even though the sandalwood fiasco may come back to bite her later. Good team player that would fit what SAS is looking for, so potential winner.

Debra, there are no words. I think she'll be the second of a double sacking week, just when she thinks she's safe. SAS is not going to forget her tirade against the lovely Nick.

Mona, definite winner material, she's seemed to gain confidence each week, and is now emerging as a good all-rounder.

Kate, another "what's she done though except look pretty?" outside chance.

So my pick of winners... Suge, Nick, Margaret for outstanding grace under immense pressure from idiots.

Debra will win, SAS is a control freak and sees her as a challenge, someone he can break.

Agree with lightdragon regarding James. Seems a really lovely, genuine guy. I'd love for him to win but don't see it happening. It's a shame because to me he's shown considerably more tangible competence than almost all other contestants and I think he got a bloody raw deal over the first couple of eps. So much so that when I rewatched them the other day I couldn't see what he'd done to elicit such a massively anti reaction. Initially I didn't think the blustering and moist-eyed handwringing would do him any favours and might send him to an early grave. But SAS clearly has a soft spot for him and when you consider Simon winning S3 and how bloody long Michael effing Sophocles managed to stick around in S4, perhaps "wounded puppy" ain't such a bum trait.

Having said that, I do think he's a bit wussy to win the whole thing and re: the interview stage, part of me thinks that given one of SAS's colleagues in particular managed to not only shut up Ms Hopkins but even got juggernaut Tre to start stammering, can you imagine what they'd do to James? It would almost be cruel to keep him in until the interviews. I mean he was crying by episode 3. And aiming a hose full blast at an OPEN car in task 1 definitely wasn't his finest hour. Still, despite everybody thinking he was a plonker I had him down as a dark horse right from the opening ep and bet my best mate a tenner he'd still be in by ep 5 and thirty quid that he'd still be in by ep 10. He's already earnt me the tenner and it's looking hopeful for the extra twenty on top! Go James!

Ned from the Koala Brothers - don't see him lasting much longer but that could just be wishful thinking on my part. All fur coat and no knickers. Only real thing he has going for him is his ability to wade his way out of shit in the boardroom. That aside he doesn't really contribute anything much other than catty remarks and the fact that he doesn't have a chin, sounds like Vicky Pollard and resembles a sunburnt wombat off a children's TV show. Thus far in terms of actual performance he's done nothing outstanding and has survived only on the basis that every single time he's been instrumental in a task's failure, somebody else in the boardroom has performed marginally worse (Maj, Noorul, Paula). Everything about him reminds of the nasty little toff in the schoolyard that all the tough kids pretend to like just because his parents have a hot tub/gargantuan alcohol cupboard/Lamborgini and all the more lowly ones pretend to like just so he won't make their lives a misery. Would probably sell his own grandma down the river if it meant he could make a quick buck. Wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. Undeniably he's entertaining but he's the only contestant of all 15 I've actively disliked this year. Hope Ned is acquainted with the inside of one Suralun's taxis asap. That was probably more of a character assassination than a legitimate business-based criticism on my part but I couldn't help myself! Let's face it, he's a right turd.

Debra - same problem as James (albeit in the opposite sense). Very competent but probably not what SAS is looking for. I don't think she's duplicitous but she's undoubtedly a stirrer and gets people's backs up. I don't see her winning, particularly after her rant at Nick in the boardroom in ep 6. I do like her though and can see her getting to the interviews provided she doesn't piss up in any impending tasks.

Mona - has shown promise but is missing something. I've nothing to really substantiate that, just a gut feeling. Seems like a nice girl but a bit vanilla and not consistently good enough to win I don't reckon. I'm unable to shake that Pantsman pitch from my consciousness. I haven't cringed so much in years.

Howard - really like him. Seems a decent bloke and quietly competent - thought he wasn't bad as team leader in episode 1. Is coming across as a bit of a fence-sitter though and I'm not sure that SAS is madly keen on him. Can see him going far but not winning.

Kate - cards are marked I reckon after the Phil/Lorraine business last week. Looks to be pleasant enough but seems to have "avoided doing anything bad" rather than actively doing anything good, so to speak. Doesn't seem as bright as some seem to give her credit for and isn't a fantastic salesperson. Good, but she hasn't shone. I can see her getting to the final two or three though and I think it's almost a given she'll still be around come interview time.

Yasmina - My tip to win at the moment. I think she's probably the best all-rounder, doesn't have any glaring flaws, sells well and is a motivational leader. Driven without being aggressive (a la Debra), overly emotive (a la James) or excessively woe-is-me / negative (a la Lorraine).

Lorraine - least likely to win of the remaining lot I think. Don't mind her personally but she's a crap saleswoman particularly given a supposed wealth of experience, is patronising when put in charge and post Cassandragate seems to have an inflated opinion of her insight. She does have a better instinct than most, however I think she apportions blame where she ought to admit culpability herself. She was really clutching at straws in ep 7 and only really survived because after Phil's shabby performance, SAS could hardly justify firing either of the others over him.

Debra's easily the most competent and committed woman there, excellent organisation, sales - she even spotted the sandalwood debacle before Nick opened his mouth. But a far too abrasive personality for SAS. Yasmeena is a better compromise given a woman is due to win - and she'd better win since her restauranteur days are surely numbered after those canapes! I like James, and I actually think he's very competent with a spark of originality thrown in but he's too old and too quirky for SAS. We are all led to believe Kate is in the final. Quite why is beyond me. None of the others have a prayer.

I quite like James too, but he actually did show quite poorly in the fitness task, when as PM he took so little to do with the actual product that he ended up not knowing what he was going to get until he got it, and it was too late to do anything about the fact that it was rubbish. He really deserved to be fired more than Maj did, though Ben was the one who should really have been fired.

Who's likely to win? I'd say Kate or Yasmina, maybe Howard or James as outside bets. I can't see it being Mona or Lorraine, and I think Ben and Debra have antagonised Sir Alan too much.

I think there is a point here that seems to have been overlooked. It all depends what type of project Siralan has in mind for the winner. For example he had a specific job for Simon and Michelle which played to their strengths so no doubt this will come out soon and the final 4 will make sense based on that.

I personally think its Yasmina's to lose-she is by far the strongest candidate in my opinion.

I think final 4 will be:
Yasmina, Mona, Howard, Debra

I honestly don't "get" Kate or Howard, they both seem a bit pointless and I feel had they been less easy on the eye and non-entity like, they would have been out by now. I do think Howard may get final 4 because of taking a risk in this weeks task. At least it shows originality.

I would love final 4 to include Ben for the excrutiating interviews and James because I really like him. Though Mona and Debra can be abrassive I feel them fiery and driven enough to warrant the grillings from Sralan's trusted advisors.

Agree with everyone on here and elsewhere that Yasmina is a given.

Oh for a shock

Gosh, yes, that's very true. It seemed as though they were picked a bit for that reason.

Although, Simon, Landlord of the Year 2007.

Thanks glad someone else agree's.
Its been that case for the last 4 years so no reason to think otherwise this year. I think its why he picked Lee over Claire as she was more bolshey but effective MD material and Lee was better as a team player with loads of energy.

I'd like James to win. He's the most likable, and seems quite competent. Even during the fitness task, he didn't strike me as too bad as PM - the main problem there for me was Kim, Ben and Maj getting carried away.

I think Debra is really competent, but I don't see her winning. She's too confrontational.

Kate and Yasmina are both strong contenders. Yasmina did cock up the sandalwood thing, but she's proved herself on other occasions. Kate did a fantastic job with her cereal campaign. Both can sell and both seem to have their heads screwed on. They work equally well as team leader or team member, where a lot of the others only shine as one or the other.

Howard, I really like. I'd like to see more of him though.

Mona, I'm reserving judgement on until after this week's task.

Ben has no chance. He's being kept in for the sake of good television. Even Margaret doesn't like him 'He didn't actually go there though, did he?'

Lorraine has little to no chance as well. She's not particularly strong in any area - her sales pitches last week were awful, her presentation skills aren't great and she didn't perform well as team leader. She's also seen as 'disruptive'.

So... final four for me are Kate, Yasmina, Howard and either Debra, James or Mona.

Even though Kate and Yasmina are probably the strongest two, I see one of the others winning.

Just to follow on from this thread it seems quite obvious Siralan has a bias towards someone 'creative' this year as he keeps banging on about it and explains why he is keeping Ben and Howard in. If you think back he has been focusing on this aspect (amongst others) for a number of weeks. Or am I imagining things??

Maybe the job he has in mind for the winner requires a creative streak? Thus explaining his bias.

Agree re the creative thing - that's v. important in today's market - but in what way is Ben creative??

Doing his hand-framing while playing David Bailey in Margate hardly constitutes creativity! Where/when has he been creative? Have I missed something vital about the 'Sandhust's Loss' boy?.

Ben contributes a lot to the brain-storming sessions. For example, he was the one who noticed the cereal looked liked treasure. Him and James were both coming up with ideas and pitching them back and forth. Similarly on the fitness task, he had the idea the team used (even if it wasn't very good).

I'd say Ben and James were the most creative two left, in a business, having ideas sense. (As opposed to an artistic sense; I don't think Sir Alan is looking to hire an artist.)

Fair point on the cereal, less so on the fitness thing (it was rubbish and the fact that no one came up with anything better doesn't make it any less bad!)

I just don't see him as being creative. All that bulls*hit and arrogance is not conducive to creativity. I do agree re James tho', hope to see him get a chance to show his in the coming week/s.

I am amazed that so many people think this.

IMHO he is there on merit. I cant think of a single week when he "deserved" to get fired.

He is arrogant and obnoxious for sure but he is certainly not without talent. Futher he is the youngest so SAS may view him as someone he can mould into something better.

Dont get me wrong... I still think Kate is the clear favourite, but saying Ben has no chance is wishful thinking.

He deserved to get fired for his Project Managing and for his behaviour on the fitness task. He was just lucky there were other people there at the time who deserved firing as much, or more than he did, who provided the show with fewer comedy moments.

He won't win. No winner of any reality show would get this edit. It's inconceivable.

As I've said on another thread, I can think of two; the fitness task (where the "box of doom" was his idea) and the 10 items task (where he failed to listen to others and didn't really contribute as much as he might have).

For me, Kate and Yasmina are both good bets to get to win. Although I do have my concerns about both of them. James might be, but he hasn't really stood out, apart from on the advertising and soap tasks. He's already been warned by SAS about this, so he will have to do something really good in the next 2 weeks - or he will be toast (much as he makes me laugh alot).

With only two weeks left before interviews, it would now take an utter disaster for Kate, Yasmina and Howard to not make week 11.

James is not safe by any means, but out of him, Debra, Ben and Lorraine, I think Sugar likes him better, though whether he sees him as an apprentice, I'm not too sure.
If brought back into the boardroom once in the next two weeks, I think James has a chance of surviving. I don't think he can survive two.

Debra is on really thin ice, but I do think that Sugar might see something in her. If she cuts out her agressive tendencies, he might just let her get away with a mistake or two, but out of the contenders left, I think she and Lorraine have been the luckiest not to get fired.

Lorraine has some good points, but she has no idea how to interact with her team. She is far too rude when addressing someone's mistakes and has made too many enemies. Also, her age will count against her as Sugar will argue that she is 'too set in her ways'.

Ben is somewhat of a wild card. He has the potential to be a good apprentice, but lacks the wisdom of knowing his own limitations. He is far too self-praising which leads me to believe that if he makes it into week 11, he will be torn to shreds.

I agree that Yasmina and Kate are dead certs for top four (and probably finals).

Howard looks very likely to make top four also.

The final place comes down to Debra, James or Ben. I don't think Lorraine has much chance. Even if she was more consistently good, I think her whole attitude and approach are too zany for Siralun - even if Margaret and Nick seem to like her.

Debra is competent (mostly), but very abrasive and difficult to work with. And Siralun has her card marked.

James is adorable, but I don't think Siralun has a high opinion of him as a businessman, though he likes him as a bloke (how could you not )

I'm beginning to think that Ben might do better than we or the bookies are expecting. Siralun seems to like him, he's certainly driven and ambitious and he's had some very positive moments in the series (as well as some disasters). He hasn't been nearly as annoying of late. Apart from comparing Margate unfavourably with the Seychelles (because that's were the average Brit goes on holidays Ben ) he didn't piss me off at all in the last task.

I think one of Bens letdowns, aside from his arrogance and overinflated opinion of himself, is the way he faltered under pressure. I'd be interested to see him pm once more just to see how he'd fare and if it was a one off. But he is a key contributor to tasks and does get involved. My main critism is that he doesn't really "excel" at anything.

Yasmina - yes, she made a pigs ear of the sandalwood incident, but she is a good all rounder. She does have strong leadership skills and works well to deadlines. She contributes to tasks and works well as a team player.

James - again, what does he excel at? I'll be interested to see his PM skills this week. But i do think he contributes to the creative side and "common sense" side of tasks. He's also a team player. I just don't think he stands out enough and is recognised for any talent enough to make it through.

Same with Howard. He seems like he talks sense, is a good team player, did a good pitch, contributed a lot to the last task...but we really haven't seen him do much before the last task.

Lorraine - very astute and gets stuck into tasks. Apalling team playing skills though and alienates people, often fuelling arguments. One of her biggest problems is that she often pushes her thought processes at the end of tasks or a point when things can't be changed or her input cannot be included for whatever reason. That would drive me mad. But in some ways if done tactically is clever. Show you know they are making a pigs ear of something, what you would have done and make your astute opinions stand out and get noticed. She also doesn't take criticism well and plays the victim too much. But she does have good instinct, good business sense and gets stuck in.

Debra - strong negotiation skills and can sell. I would hate to end up in the boardroom with her and that is supposedly one of my strongest arenas in the real world according to my evals. But she showed poor PM skills and poor time management skills. She also seems to lack creative flair.

Kate - I disagree that Kate hasn't shone. I think she has made some superb pitches over the weeks and has strong negotiation skills. She has very quick comebacks to questions and is very good at dismissing ideas in a way that doesn't immediately offend or make people defensive. I think she shone the week she was PM as it is one of the few weeks people really came together as a team. She was involved in all aspects without taking over and managed to have some very strong minded individuals working well, who ordinarily are out for themselves. She also has good sales skills. But she did show that she needs to start speaking out more. It's clear she is capable of being critical and doesn't always agree when she was in the boardroom with Lorraine. I actually think she is one of the most ruthless of them all. She is just good at disguising it But she probably does need to show Philip was a one off and isn't easily distracted, she needs to maybe add more creative input and stand out in the next few tasks. She is still the person I'd put money on to win. Her or Yasmina.