I think Stuart is gonna win now.....

True. Lord Sugar is not Simon Cowell, he's not going to drive it into the gutter, fix the competition for one particular candidate or engineer shock firings just in the interest of ratings, especially on a non-commercial channel.

Never forget that the show is called "The Apprentice" - Lord Sugar wants someone he can mentor, not the finished product by any means.

Liz was 23 when she was on the show. She is practically the same age as Stuart.

I think Lord Sugar kept him for the TV Show. Margaret is going to eat him for breakfast in the interview next week.

Karma got her. She is a vile person and I'm very pelased she won't be in the final.

Liz was stupid in th boardroom tonight. Stu defended himself and made Siralan put him through, Liz was too meek when he asked her to explain herself.

Totally. StuBaggs sold himself brilliantly. He's up his own arse but I think he could go a long, long way.

I bet you miss Big Brother.

I hope Stella wins though.

Oh come on, we all know it's a tv show first and foremost. I've never looked at anyone on this show and been blown away by their business skills. He's not really looking for some amazing business prospect - that's just how the show is sold to make it seem like a serious business programme. Don't get me wrong, I love the show, but that's what it is - an entertainment show

this thread is a joke right!? I mean...come on Liz was a right cow!

If she looked like that other woman with the big nose who got sacked in week 2 or so...she'd be long gone. This is all because men fancy her

Rather than being timid or meek, I just think Liz seemed to lack conviction in what she said.

It sounded like she was reciting a pre-prepared speech as opposed to speaking from the heart.

The truth is, like Kate, last year the last thing she wanted was a year in one of Sugar's companies. She wants a media job and time on the party circuit with the footballer boyfriend.

I fell sorry for liz once the interview episode is done that's it i ain't interested in who wins.

See u next year.

Exactly

She did not speak for herself at all! she sold the most made a record of it and she did not even bring it up!

Not at all the problem with her is that like Chris she's too caught up in the financial sector really isn't Lord Sugar's cup of tea. I think though that the fact she wasn't from an entrepeneurial background as opposed to Stuart didn't help her in that situation. The idea she was just after a media career with a footballer boyfriend is a bit silly. As for Kate she ended up with Philip who was hardly any great celebrity.

It seemed inevitable, some weeks ago, that Baggs would be in the final. He's still there for the comedy and controversy value. I have no doubt that the producers requested / hinted / asked His Lordship to keep Baggs in for that reason.

Sugar has made many weird (aka bad) choices over the years when it comes to firing people, but I doubt he will employ Baggs, who frankly needs to do some growing up before he is allowed in charge of anything in any ethical business.

That said ... Liz didn't stand up for herself or project herself.

Well time will tell I guess.

Basically why she got fired! If she just sold herself more and spoke up and told Sir Alan about all the different things she's done in all the tasks and been on the winning team so many times she would still be there.

But Stuart and THAT speech, she had no chance! Sir Alan related to what he said and that's what gave Stuart the edge.

I was very surprised that it was Liz - but I did think (and hope) Stuart would stay for the interviews. I thought it would be Stella who would get fired, since the cockney tour wasn't a good idea. I think Liz showed more spark than she did throughout the process. I thought Sugar was getting tired of her "corporateness".

Liz will probably be remembered by quite a few people as the Miriam Staley of this season - and indeed she is very capabable and employable, so she won't do bad out of this show. What let her down though was that by her own admission, she wasn't assertive or aggressive enough. Much like Naomi and Miriam, she didn't enough of a spark or passion compared to some of the other characters. Also she's 24 years old - and so far, nobody below 25 has won yet. For that reason, I don't think Stuart will win either. She was also on the losing team a lot, which may have made Sugar feel concerned. Overall, she was a great candidate in my opinion - but she ultimately ran out of steam and couldn't sustain any further advance.

So I'm dissapointed that she went, but not too sad. She'll get a lot of offers. Not sure how many Stuart will get.

AS may not know exactly who he wants but he knows who he doesn't. He didn't want to hire Liz; she hasn't had the best couple of weeks (although still shouldn't have gone on pure performance) and Stuart is far better for televisual purposes so AS could quite easily keep him and fire Liz without losing any sleep at all. Neither was ever going to be AS's apprentice so keep the most entertaining and fire the other more competent one while it still looks vaguely credible.

What surprises me the most is that the capabilities he summed up for Liz, also applied to Kate from last year and he let her through to the interviews (she also lost the final task)

It is a real shame and I don´t think that I will be watching the final five show (will tune in for the interviews and the final, but without real interest).

Funny how all those experts in different fields (on you´re fired all those weeks) had Liz in the final, but Lord Sugar didn´t even deem her worthy of the interviews

Mind you, it was his last chance to get rid of her, because she would have walked the interviews (like Kate last year).

I think Lord Sugar should get fired after watching that! If Liz knew he'd be impressed with that maybe she would have offered him 100 unicorns, ones with real magic and all!

I actually like Stuart but actions are supposed to speak louder than words, so Liz's actions should've spoken a lot louder than Stuarts words, because thats all Stuart has shown - words. If he thought Liz didn't have that spark than why the hell did he keep Stella there. Either way the decision makes no sense, Liz was the strongest out of the three in that boardroom.

Liz was just too bland. She was good at sales but had no spark or drive about her. As much as i despise Stuart i would have given him another chance.

What Stuart said didn't come across as genuine at all, just desperation, but it worked for him. I think Sugar was more amused than anything else

You can only train someone with ability - Stuart has none except the capability to make horrendous errors, to annoy people and to use inappropriate tactics.

The Badger equation wasn't like that. Michelle could sell too but she also had wider experience, got on better with many people, had set up her own company and was already making more. Michelle also fitted the job on offer better as she was involved in simialr lines of work. Thats one of his Lordships better choices - although there too he had chucked out any opposition with a more academic background. The problem now is that he feels bitten by Michelle and was then bitten again by Katie and seems to have become even more suspicious of the attractive females who are good with words.

I don't think there's anything we see that suggests LS is all that bright. Thats before you read his twitter page. He makes cras errors. He can't analyse reliably or consistently, his tasks rarely show what he thinks they should and he comes up with third rate and contradictory arguments and runs with them regardless. Even his hunches are wrong more often than not. He's driven by his own life experience and consistently undervalues academic skills which he doesn't have. He's also a sucker for journey stories that avoid the educational system and show symptoms of his early career. He also sees Sugar like potential in people who have none, or less than others he misses it in, and he then reguarly gets rid of this deadwood after someone else interviews them.

Its not just Liz this series either. If you look at the last five they must be the weakest last 5 ever. When you list their weaknesses you have to seriously wonder if there's not actually three or four more able people who have gone who could replace 3 or 4 of them.