No, not really irony, but ironing...

*Every* week it is the same.

0600: Suralan's robot secretary tells them the cars will be collecting them in half an hour.

Cut to montage of bleary eyed candidates eating cereal standing up (apart from Debra who just puts a fresh microchip in her circuit board)
... and some random bloke ironing a shirt, usually not wearing any trousers.

These are meant to be bright people.
Does it not occur to anyone to iron the shirt the night before?
How can you expect them to plan a task when they can't even make sure they have a decent shirt to wear?

[On a different tack... did anyone notice Ben's ickkle bright blue teddy on his bedside table? Awwwww!]

I have always wondered how often the tasks are spaced out and if they necessarily know what day the task will be sprung upon them...Though the presence of a camera crew setting up at 5am must be a massive giveaway!!

I thought thecamera crew actually lived with them - so not necessarily......

But I agree - I would have thought that they would sort out their hair and clothes the night before they must KNOW that they will get a crack of dawn phone call by this stage...

I know that they don't take 12 weeks to film the series - more like 3-4 but every series before AND this one we have seen the early morning phone call so you'd think they'd get their arses into gear....

I think they probably don't know exactly when the task will be but must have some idea ( eg if they haven't had one for 4 days to expect one!! ) The camera crew wouldn't necesarily give it away, as I'd imagine there are permanent cameras rigged up in the appartment and they would only need one camera to enter the appartment just before the phone rings.

But yes if it was me, I'd make sure I'd have an outfit ready every night just in case and I'd washed my hair too!!

Mona said last week that she wore her hair braided so she didn't have to spend time doing it in the mornings. But she obviously wasn't good at doing early mornings!

They are given 4 hours sleep and in some tasks they sleep for 2 hours. I can understand why they wouldn't waste 1 min preparing for the next morning if they can be ready in the 30 min given to them in the morning. As far as we know no candidate turned up late or penalised for not being ready on time.

Where is this information coming from?

Are they kept up at gun-point until 1:30? (Assuming a 5:30 start.)

I'd be very surprised if the production company dared to impose such a regime as they could be held liable for very considerable damages if any of the candidates suffered mental or physical health problems as a result of the intense stress coupled with enforced sleep deprivation.

I can't imagine there wouldn't be at least a day between tasks, the contestants and Nick and Margaret would all need a days rest and production would need to set up at new locations, plus I'm sure SA has better things to do than spend every day doing Apprentice stuff. And from what I can tell they can go to bed when they like, there have been shots on YF of them chilling out in the appartment and I remember one of them mentioning they liked to go to bed earlier than the others. There's no way they'd be woken up day after day that early ... as the previous poster said it's a health and safety risk and I'm speaking as an ex TV producer.

I have to clarify: This is not a daily schedule. I read in the internet forum that they have the following schedule:

- They film 2 tasks to 2.5 tasks a week.
- The task takes 2-3 days usually to film.
- The first two tasks are filmed in 4 days including boardroom and treats.

The tasks are filmed back o back. The treats and the boardroom can take a separate day to film.

An ex-candidate wrote that they all have to be available when the fired candidate gets back to the house. Sometimes the task requires that they stay late (e.g. the cleaning task last year continued till 2 am and they were in the house by 3 am). So in most days they have to stay very late. He also said that in some days they are waken up by the crew setting up their cameras etc before 5.30. He said that they do suffer from sleep deprivation because in many days they do have 4 hours sleep .

The most amusing comment was that he found it better to be in the losing team because the treat takes a day of filming and they needed every minute to have rest, wash, clear their minds for the next task. I will try to find the link later.

And isn't this how Phil/Kate tried to keep things quiet? In his interview he said they stayed up later than others and that the only people who would have seen them were the few camera crew up late and a few contestants if they stayed up. So they must be flexible to go to bed whenever. He also mentioned Kate dumped him during a "break" in filming and also them having some time alone after all of them went out one night. So there must be breaks in filming based on Phil's interviews. None of the others have mentioned much. But they have all mentioned having parties after tasks, so I reckon they at least get a few days break to recuperate, but probably didn't leave London. ie. a day or so to relax in the penthouse, chill out etc....It's not like they can be influenced by newspapers as the show doesn't air until months later and by the point it starts the final task has finished. It's only the two finalists that will influenced by public perception as they would have seen what newspapers said as they have been working for SAS properly and, I doubt, couped up away from the internet. I guess the idea is that it should motivate them to do better if they are viewed poorly by the public. It's why I'm interested in the who's been fired interviews. There are certain candidates spoken about in a certain way that indicates they are in the final or why else plug would ex candidates plug them. There are also 4 candidates mentioned a lot by other candidates; Kate, James, Debra (in particular) and sometimes Yasmina. I haven't heard Howard really talked about and Lorraine is talked about (but not in the same way as the other 4).

No they don't have a day between each task and the next. You can check the actual dates of the tasks and you will see that they the schedule doesn't allow for a day rest. When they are not in the task they either film the boardroom which takes long hours or the treat.

SAS has enough time even with schedule to do other things. He only appears in the brief and the boardroom.

Watching the candidates is a full time job for Nick and Margaret during the weeks of filming. They are not available all the time. If the task involves waking up till late, we don't see Nick and Margaret. For example, Nick and Margaret were not available in the last few hours of the cleaning task last year. ALso a lot of the late discussions that occur in the house are not attended by Nick and Margaret.

This "break" in filming is not 1 day break. I said the 4 hours sleep is no a daily thing and of course they are not forced to sleep in a certain time but they are probably forced to stay later than a certain time by the filming of the boardroom or the filming of the task.

There are no "few" days between tasks. The tasks are filmed back to back. Sometimes they have one day at most if they are lucky. The contestants are most probably informed before they get into the apprentice of what awaits them and they have the option to refuse not take their place before filming starts and in some cases even during filming.

Okay fair enough re the schedule, although I would think there is still ( there has to be )one full day off per week and one early night! It's also probable that parties are optional and that day 2 and 3 of the tasks would be more likely to be an 8 -9 am start.
Anyway given this schedule and going back to the earlier discussion, we can def assume that the candidates will know there is a task and early start most days and should have therefore prepared their clothes at least the night before!!

They might have a day off every now and then but not between each task and the next. They look to me extremely tired as the weeks go on.

May be I am wrong but I always assume that if the candidates don't act as expected by most people, then there must be a logical reason for it. Most of these candidates are in reasonably paid jobs and are well-respected. It is hard for me to believe that they are idiots, consistantly miss the obvious, behave unprofessionally, unorganised, etc in their daily jobs. So if they behave differently in the show, then there must be a a good reason for it.

Ok, I know that the tasks aren't really a week apart.

But still doesn't explain the ironing at 0615.

Why don't they iron their shirt while waiting for the returnees from the boardroom?

Planning ahead, people!

Because it makes good telly to look like they are ironing a shirt before the early morning meeting. Whether the shirt they are ironing for the camera's benefit is the same shirt that they wear on the task that day is another matter altogether. Remember, this is an entertainment programme. It is not Big Brother - much of what goes on in front of the cameras is for the BBC's and the audience's benefit, nothing to do with the candidates' attempts to win the task.

You mean.... you mean.... it's not REAL?

Does that liability extend to the viewer as well??

JJ

They are young people and there is plenty of booze around - I stayed up late at that age and would often hastily iron a shirt before I went to work.

What surprises me is that if thios really only lasts 3-4 weeks, why all the whining about missing kids and family? If the end reward could potentially be a well-paid job and cash from the tabloids, no-one would really deny themselves the opportunity and "family" would understand.

So what break was Phil referring to then? Is there a break between tasks and interviews? this would suggest that Kate is definately makes the interview stage if this is the case. He specifically mentions a "break" in filming in his interview where she visited him or he visited her.

There is a relatively long break between the interviews and the final task. But this doesn't mean anything. They might both be involved in the final task even if Katie is fired in the next task. This would be described as a break in filiming for both of them.

However, most of us assume that Katie will be in the interviews and she is probably a finalist.

There's got to be at least a day's break for the losing team while the winners go off on the task. Some of these tasks involve going off far away and getting enough footage to present an interesting few mins. That's got to take at least a day.

two tasks of two days in a seven day week still gives them a three day break.

This is a post from Karen Bremner a candidate in series 2 (The post is from the internet forum)


Here is another quote from Simon Smith from last series:



An idea about the schedule of last series from the sme website:

I remember reading something by adam from series 3. He did mention a couple of one day breaks but he said most of that time was taken up with recording the little interviews which are inserted into the programme.

Its all very well but when do they do

1 the treats?
2 the boardroom (which apparently takes a good few hours)
3 the extra stuff with the little aside interviews etc?

Do they all go off and do the treats at the end?