I'd love to see Lorraine in the final, but I would wager that this won't happen. I suspect the final contenders will be the delightfully nondescript Kate and Yasmina. If this is the case I sincerely hope Yasmina wins..... she has a much more commanding persona and has demonstrated that she can manage a team effectively, having won 2 tasks.

Kate and Yasmina will definitely make the Final Two and from the lads, I can only really see Howard joining them...

It would certainly be good tv if James and Ben get to the interview stage - I can imagine them ripping the Sandhurst boy to shreds, and it would be fascinating to see how James handles it... I don't think he'll impersonate an eagle (or whatever it was that Lee did...).


Ability wise, Kate & Yasmina, plus any other three of the also rans...

tv wise, James, Ben, Debra and Lorraine... and maybe Kate to see if they have a go at her 'glamourous' looks...

Howard seems to fall just outside the best candidates, but also outside of the more interesting candidates... he'll probably win now i've said that

Ah; my mistake. I was thinking of task 7, selling to trade, but miswrote. If you re-read #13 with that in mind it should make more sense.


It wasn't Ben's fault Lorraine couldn't sell to Pets at Home - the other team did well there. I agree it wasn't much of an achievement for Ben, but it did put him above Kate and Philip that week, and was enough to keep him out of the boardroom. (And because of that, we don't know what else he did. There were several other pitches he could have led at.)

I now think the top 4 will be

Kate
Yasmina
James
one of Howard and Lorraine

Im going to say Howard but he really doesnt deserve it

People keep talking about the top 4.

At the moment we have 7:

Ben
Debra
Howard
James
Kate
Lorraine
Yasmina

Episode 9: 'Baby' task -1 leaving 6
Episode 10: 'QVC' task -1 leaving 5

Episode 11: Interviews.
Epsode 12: Finale.

Have I missed something or, discounting a double firing, will there not be 5 for the interviews?

Last year there were 5 for the interviews and 4 for the final. Previous years have had 4 for the interviews and 2 for the final. I don't know what they are going to do this year, but "final four" is traditional.

In series 3 there were 5 for the interviews: Lohit, Tre, Katie, Kristina and Simon.

Yes, there will be five for the interviews. However there will still be a top 4, right after IMO Lorraine is fired, being the first one of the triple firing.

So Tre, Lohit, Katie, Kristina and Simon were the top 5

Tre, Katie, Kristina and Simon were the top 4

I haven't seen that series yet.

Are you saying that when AS fires three people he does it in an explicit order of demerit?

Unless he actually says something like: "Well, of you five the most useless is X, you're fired, then Y, you're fired then Z, you're fired, I would still take that as going straight from a top five to a top two.

Really, we're counting the number of people going forward from the end of each programme.

Considering that is the only series he has done it in, YES, I think it is based on worst to 3rd worst.

Lohit was clearly the person SA thought would just never fit into his company. And the interviewers really did not see him as capable.

I think he actually keeps his top 3 in the top 3 as he wants people to fight for the job and to maybe sway his mind. I definitely think that it is in order.

And when I said top 4 I meant the last 4 remaining. And they will probs be Howard, James, Kate, Yasmina. SA will see the last 4 as the top 4 in many people's minds and that is what I meant

I have to say that seems to be a completely artificial way of looking at things.

Did this top four ever do anything as a group (such as have a treat or compete as two teams)?

For how long was there a top 4 before there was a top 3?

Maybe I'm missing something but I can't see how you can ascribe any significance to something that is entirely transitory.

We will just agree to disagree. I think the top 4 out of the 5 remaining at the interview stage are who SA thinks are the 4 best candidates out of the top 5. You obviously dont think that.

I will have to re phrase it for your sake. I find it difficult to understand how 2/3 remaining men can be in last 4 remaining contestants sitting at the table after SA fires the first candidate after the interviews.

However I do now think the top four are James Kate Yasmina and Howard

I think I'll have to wait and see what you mean. I have a feeling I might be being particularly obtuse.

If we're going for four, what about the top three.

Howard, Kate and Yasmia would be my guess.

Have just read this thread and the only thing I don't understand is your problem with 'top 4' Tern. You keep banging on about it - why?

Well, perhaps if you read it again.

The problem is spelled out in post #31 in terms a child of three could understand.


Again, I've explained in the simplest possible terms so why you are having a problem I can't imagine.

You seem to have posted this just to be snitty.

In previous years, I also understood it as SAS firing the interviewee candidates in order of demerit. Lohit had no real chance, and neither did Tre, whereas the three left, SAS was clearly torn between.

Though it depends on editing. In S1 it looked as though James (having been one of the strongest candidates throughout and most times on the winning team) was fired before Paul, but in fact this was due to editing, and Paul had been fired in 4th place, James in 3rd.

I guess ultimately it doesn't matter all that much. It just depends on who gets to the Final, and in SAS's own words, there is only one prize!

I just hope that it's the traditional two, and not the odd situation we had last year.

The only ones I can realistically see getting into the final would be between Kate, Yasmina, James and Howard, so they would be my top four.

To be honest I see Tern's point. But I dont know why he/she kept banging on about it either. That wasnt the point I was trying to make. Im sure he/she knew what I meant

Anyway, I think the top 3 will be Howard Kate and Yasmina. James in "top 4", Lorraine in "top 5"

Especially when their should be one more week as that person dropped out.

Just because I thought I was being absurdly dense and missing something obvious.

I supposed the only significance would be if there was a top 4, then a task to fire 2, leaving 2 for the final task.

If there is 5 at the interviews, we are missing a week. The BBC would have commissioned x episodes and if one candidate dropped out, they would be one short.

Easiest way would be to knock one out at the interview stage and then do what happened in the past and do a task with 2 in each team. but rather than choose the winner from 4, he could fire 2, leaving 2 to battle out a final task.

So how big are the final teams? I only watched the occasional episode previous years as I travelled a lot the last few years. Someone mentioned it being typically a product launch. How big a team do they need to run? Would the client then choose or does SAS simply assess their PM skills, creativity, selling/pitching as well as interpersonal skills all in one?

As far as I remember each time three candidates are brought back per "team". So it was 5 (Alex, Helene, Jenny Mags, Kevin, Raef) vs 5 (Claire, Lee, Jenny Celery, Michael, Simon) last year, and 4 vs 4 every year before that.

The results of the final task are pretty nebulous. There's never a set "winner" or "loser" and often the eventual hiring isn't really connected to the task by Siralan in any logical way (for example in the first two years Tim and then Michelle both made less profit than their final 2 competitors and then won anyway). Best just to view it as a last chance for comedy and arguments and a way to fill time before Siralan makes his decision based on the 6 months the candidates have just spent working for him.

I do not know why you are so condescending. You call me snitty, I think you are just snotty!
You were going on and on about 4 this, 4 that - it was the OP that made the initial statement re the final 4.

Well, if you start making snitty, unhelpful, posts when someone is just trying to work out what's going on then you are going to appear snotty and invite condescending posts.

What was the purpose of your original post on this thread other than to be rude?

Merely to point you in the direction of the original poster, as you seemed so confused.