I had a little cry with her

I hope that she will get some support to learn more about business so she can take herself off the front line of her cleaning firm and grow a really successful company.

bless her, I think she learned a lot..and she looked hawt on youve been fired...

The really sad thing is if this years prize had been LS money to invest in a business as it apparently is going to be next year Joanna may well have (and would have deserved to) won it. As it was, it just wasn't meant to be.

It was a sad but quite lovely firing. It reminded me of Jadine's a few years back, which is funny because Joanna was a lot like Jadine in other ways too.

It was nice to see Joanna treated gently and encouraged to succeed in the business she has developed. However, I'm surprised none of her family/friends/people who have watched the show had the foresight to warn her that it might be a good idea if you know something about the company you're potentially going to be working for if and when you get to the interview stage.

If we are to trust Margaret (would be difficult not to) Joanna comes across as a likeable, non-threatening individual and deserves to do well. So good look to her.

he patronised her because of her colour. he said she didnt know spreadsheets or something I find that difficult to believe from someone running their own business these days.
anyway i doubt if he did when he started his business. I think she really needs a partner in her business to help her along. Perhaps a dragon will take her up. I dont think he would be disappointed.

Gotta admit i also almost shed a tear. It was emotional.

I did warm to her the last few weeks but I do agree with you that she was far too aggressive and gobby early on. As much as I did warm to her and would have liked to have seen her in the final with Stella I think that Sir Alan did the right thing. She let herself down in not researching his company and there was an awful lot she did not know, she fell at the last hurdle in the interviews and was probably the worst after Stuart! Although Jamie was a right plonker as well!

I am not all that keen on Chris either, the only worthy person to win would be Stella in my eyes. Chris is far too full of himself and thinks that he is better than he actually is!

I have loved Stella from the start and would love her to win!

Yes, I felt for her too. However, in all fairness to SA, he treated her with respect and she left the final with dignity.

She did extremely well to get to the final IMO, but she was caught out on those interviews very badly. I can't believe that she would enter a show like this and not brush up on her knowledge about SA's business. That was always going to be a no no.

That said, I hope she takes the advice she's been given and uses it to strengthen her company.

Does anyone have any idea how big Jo's business is?

The way she described her business during the show I thought she had set it up with her own graft and was now employing others do the work while she was the owner and took the profits.

But the way she described it tonight it sounded like she was almost a sole trader who did all the work herself when she kept referring to herself as Jo the cleaner. Nothing wrong with that, it makes sense to take as much money as you make and she's still made a success of herself.

It's not the type of candidate I'd expect to get on the apprentice though.

It was sad when Joanna left. In the first couple of weeks, she was my least favourite contestant, but she changed her ways and I wanted her to win! Jamie was my other choice for the final. Chris and Stella are the two that I didn't want going through but then I am more inclined to wrongly go by personalities rather than performance!

I'm with you on this SuperAPJ. Stella and Chris bored me senseless and I found the other candidates better viewing, especially Stuart, he was hilarious, but obviously was never going to win. However, I really thought Jamie had a chance at the final as being a sort of in the middle somewhere between being entertaining and actually good business acumen when he puts his mind to it.

I don't mind Stella now that I've seen her back story and hope out of the two that she wins. But Chris is so dull.

I felt sad for her, as I reckon she deserved to work for him.

The interview bits of her making a hash of things might not be the whole story, but the editing chose to show her in a certain light.

I get the impression that it is a very small business too, probably just her, hardly apprentice-worthy.

did you really say that, her colour, hahahaha amazing, just amazing!!

i think Joanna had a lot more to offer and I think Sugar knew that, she is a real business woman not a show biz wannabe and he knew she could do better on her own, the best two for the job were chosen, end of

I felt sad for her, it was strange to see her so vulnerable after coming off as really aggressive and hardin the first few weeks. I think in her interview she kept talking up her negatives and emphasising her potential weaknesses when she could have mentioned them once and spent more time using convincing language to show why they are not reasons to fire her.

Best of luck to her.

Yes, it also brought to mind Jadine's firing for me, because I had tears in my eyes when both were fired.

It was very well filmed and we felt different emotions for each of the fired candidates. I felt sorry for Jo not for her tears because she was horribly exposed in the interviews in a way that the others weren't - they were exposed as full of themselves while she was suddenly seen to lack answers to straightforward questions and to have less idea than I have of what businesses Alan Sugar runs or no longer runs. She was just very inexperienced at this level of interviewing. She couldn't possibly have prepared for this stage and the tasks don't set you up for it. I can't believe she got this far and didn't prepare for the grilling.

Again, I really wonder at the behind the scenes dialogue in the production companies offices, when they choose the "candidates" for this show.

But as to Joanna specifically, she sadly looked like a frightened bird during the interviews, and her lack of basic skills was highlighted by the interviewers.

I liked her throughout the show, and thought she would be a useful addition to any company, but no one should go into an interview as unprepared as she was.

It felt like she was fired not beause she wasn't right for the job, but because she didn't need it. She had everything she needed to make a success of her own business and could do it on her own without working for someone else.

But to be fair to her, she took on board the criticism they gave and made the effort to change.

I do think that she needs to fill in some of the gaps she has in her business knowledge, but, she is a competent woman, whose needs to be more confident about her abilities.

I never thought of her as just a cleaner, I thought she is a savvy girl who has acheived a lot for herself.

I sincerely think that if she could find herself a mentor and do a couple of short courses, she will go from strength to strength.

I was also choked when she went.

was that an intentional joke

I felt for her, but I was clear she wasn't winning material all along, her lack of basic academic and business skills were her biggest obstacle.
She did do very well to get as far as she did though, and I'm sure she will be a successful business woman in the near future.

And yes, she looked fantastic on the your fired show, she scrubs up very well indeed!

indeed, i dont think hes ever given such a glowing statement to anyone being fired.... it was emotional, but tbh im not sure she deserved it!

think it was mainly Melissa Jo clashed with IIRC