After what AS said about Kate last night she no longer looks to be anywhere near the favourite she was. Yasmina seems to get caught out on the CV and James still has to prove himself.

On the other hand Debra has had some very nice things said about her and did well yesterday. Lorraine polarises opinion but I don't think I've ever seen Nick being so assertive towards AS as he was last night standing up for her.

So no candidate with an unblotted copy book and no candidate without significant strengths (obviously, really, otherwise they wouldn't have got this far).

So, as I believe they say in football circles: "Everything still to play for".

(Except that it's been played out already, of course.)

I think Lorraine will win, they're certainly setting her up in a sympathetic light , with Kate being mean to her & Howard blaming her for the failure.

[quote=Tern;32674159]After what AS said about Kate last night she no longer looks to be anywhere near the favourite she was. Yasmina seems to get caught out on the CV and James still has to prove himself.

On the other hand Debra has had some very nice things said about her and did well yesterday. Lorraine polarises opinion but I don't think I've ever seen Nick being so assertive towards AS as he was last night standing up for her.

So no candidate with an unblotted copy book and no candidate without significant strengths (obviously, really, otherwise they wouldn't have got this far).

So, as I believe they say in football circles: "Everything still to play for".




And Sir Alan said very nice things about Howard in recent tasks and then fired him for not much reason at all! Do understand that while the programs were filmed long ago, the editing reflects recent developments and is designed to make the show more interesting by suggesting the field is open. I personally think Kate is a weak candidate but she is very obviously Sir Alan's choice. The only things which might stop her is recent publicity with Philip/ or bad performance in the past few months working for Sir Alan. She will definitely make the final though.

Would that would mean that the story about her suffering as a result of her experiences on TA is a 'plant'?

Or yet another gross exaggeration by the gutter press?

Did you actually watch last night's episode?

And hear what he said about her?


An interesting opinion but not one universally shared.

(Haven't got a clue, myself )

I have a gut feeling that Yasmina is going to win this.

I certainly did watch the show. Did you read my post? My point is Sir Alan says lots of things good and bad about candidates at each boardroom which extend over hours of filming. What you see is a selection of his comments made by the editing team and part of their purpose is to throw viewers off the scent of who the favourite is to keep interest in the show. Pinning his views down to one set of comments on one show is very misleading. Take and overview of his reaction (most especially his body language) over the whole series and I maintain Kate has had a very easy ride.

I can't imagine James winning it. Though, sometimes the quieter ones have snuck through. The comments against Kate may be to keep the suspense up, and also to keep her working hard.

This isn't the first time he's been very -ve towards Kate.

And the reason why I take it seriously rather than just as feinting is because the negativity is focused on something inherent in her personality rather than something that can be changed (like Clair's talkativeness last year. )

A comment such as 'thinks a lot of herself but there's not much there' is vastly more damning than 'winds people up' or 'is a bit of a joker'.

Bloomin eck.... my daughter was yelling at the point that he said this and, as a result I missed the latter part of "there's not much there".

Hmmm I'm starting to warm to wards AS...... He's much more perceptive than I thought...

I'd agree with you if he actually said that but my recollection from the transmitted material is that he said 'she thinks she's a bit better than what she is - this might give her a bit of a wake up call'.

Different quote.

What time is the quote you are referring to?

[quote=missfrankiecat;32674407]
I disagree that Kate is weak in comparison to others. Lorraine and James are certainly weaker overall imo. But none of the candidates this year are particularly great.

I do agree with your point about editing and making it seem more even playing field. SAS said last night at the beginning of the programme that he was looking at product choice and not presenting skills as candidates often muck this up. And he loved Kate's product choices and she selected two of the top selling items. She was never going to be fired on that basis alone. He completely agreed with her product choices. But for next week to seem more even playing field he added in points to make it seem like it wasn't so clear cut. He put through all those he has "soft spots" for. And I certainly didn't feel any sympathy for Lorraine last night and neither did the audience or panel on the "you''re fired" show. but I didn't think Howard was going to make it past the interview stage. based on last night's performance, Lorraine really should have gone and she had a lucky escape imo. She was the weakest in the team yesterday.

He wasn't particularly critical of her. He has been far more scaving about other candidates, except Yasmina.

I Think Yasmina will win it. I hated the way she won the catering task before by supplying utter crap and getting away with it (would never in real business) but since then she has been pretty astute and even mildly likeable!

I'm hoping for a Lorraine or Yasmina win but I think from the way the edits have been going it'll be Debra. She outshone the others in the shopping task and SAS has been singing her praises. I think she's probably the strongest candidate just not the most likeable.

I (along with Nick and Margaret!!) am not a fan of Debra however even tho' she did well in the tasks yesterday i don't think she will win. i base this on previous series where there were good feisty candidates which ultimately came second. Saira, Ruth the badger, Clare the rotweiller.

Watcha think?!!

I think Debra could win....Why??....well I believe AS likes her.She has her faults...but she`s young and not set in her ways and therefor she could be molded (for want of a better word) to rid her of her bad habits/traits, while the positive aspects of her of business acumen could be honed to produce the ideal Apprentice.I personally like Lorraine but she`s probably stuck in her ways and it would be far more difficult to mold her into the apprentice AS wants.

Debra is too abrasive for SA. She's too loud. He wants someone he can boss about. Leaves only Yasmina and James IMHO. Maybe he has seen something in Lorraine and her gut feelings.. Maybe this new role is experimental product dev related.

Agreed. SAS always has to say something negative about a candidate even on those occasions when someone is in the boardroom but never has a chance of going.

He did the same thing with Tim in S1, incidentally on the same task. He also criticised Simon in the same circumstances.

And whatever happened to them, eh?

Seriously, anybody who thinks Siralan was too harsh on Kate in that particular Boardroom for her to go on to win should watch the Post-Topshop boardroom. He looked like he wanted to murder Michelle. Him saying "that's one not as good as she thinks she is" is NOTHING in comparison...

I agree with you that Kate is a weak candidate (or to put it more precisely, she's a good candidate, but extremely over-rated), but I certainly don't think she's Sir Alan's choice. I would not be surprised if she goes next week.

I agree. A Yasmina vs Kate final is the most realistic scenario. Moreover, I believe that Kate has a better chance to win than Yasmina. Yesterday's boardroom achieved its purpose in tricking the viewer that it is too close to call when in reality SAS had a clear idea of who he wanted in the final.

For me Yasmina is a younger and more straightforward version of Kristina Grimes. She is too reliable and safe for SAS's taste. Kate is a more capable version of Simon Ambrose (probably less machavillian). I will be very surprised if Yasmina wins.

Not a chance.

Last nights show marked her cards, Margaret even said she should have went. This makes me think she will be fired next week.