Just after Baggs was bounced, when asked the above question Stella was the only one who gave a good account of herself, even Chris stumbled his way through.
Can't imagine her not winning.

I think Suralan has a huge soft spot for Stella. He has a little twinkle in his eye when she's talking.


Got a feeling Chris will win though

If hired, Chris' monotone voice could drive Sugar crazy. He's the human equivalent of the speaking clock.

Stella should win but the other contestants don't seem to like her and they might not work their best on the task. It's funny how they all disliked her yet the people who really count ie Karen, Margaret etc thought she was the height of professionalism.

And at the third stroke, Sugar will be firing me...

Beep, beep, beep.

Chris's answer was fine. He was concise and conveyed the point on being creative, adaptable and thinking outside the box so he has been listening to the feedback and what qualities are being emphasised in the winner.

Stella gave a good answer but she started off with a defence of being corporate and Sugar gave her some prompting on what he wanted(i.e an account of what she could do).

Jamie's was the worst by a mile. His descent into meaningless cliches is a really bad habit to have.

She's certainly come across well, it was mentioned in the boardroom about being able to trust her and she does seem honest and agenda free, I loved what they said about her making a role for herself in the company she's worked in and becoming indispensable. Chris' self love would grate after a while.

I can't even remember what Jamie said, but Joanna didn't answer well at all. Sympathy aside, she just fell completely apart.

EDIT: Jamie's "I'm a key cog" to Margaret was the funniest part of the interviews for me.

Chris was heading that way too. Though nowhere near as bad as Jamie, the bits we saw with Margaret were bizarre, he seemed to have a mini meltdown.
Taking the continuity at face value they were asked the question 'why should I hire you?' just after Stuarts brutal exit, and you can see Stella is shocked, so to be first, and ok, to have misinterpreted the question, but then she spoke well, Jamie and Joanna were terrible.

If you watch it back you'll find that Chris was the only candidate that didn't stutter at that point. Stella could be forgiven for her lack of assuredness given that she was the first to be asked the question but the other three had a chance to prepare while Stella was speaking, knowing they would be asked the same question and yet both Jamie and Joanna were seemingly flumoxed. Sugar clearly wanted a positive response to what they would do for him if he employed them and only Chris and Stella came close to answering his question.

I think Sir Alan sees something of Margaret Mountford's personality in Stella, and he could be right.

They both have an initially icy demeanour which softens as the job gets done and a subtle sense of humour. They are both trustworthy, fair, diligent and smart.

You may be onto something there. I'd love to see Stella on the other side of the boardroom table in a few years.

Although I'm sure Chris is innovative etc, when he was talking all I could see was him persuading that poor woman to buy a dress made of ties.

Na. Chris's answer to the final question was fine. He was nothing like Jamie.

Jamie's answers always involve being on the forefront, breaking down barriers, being involved in everything key or making the big decisions with no examples or contain a frankly ridicilious metaphor such as being a cog in a wheel It's not the first time he has rambled in the boardroom and is very bad at being concise. He says nothing really.

Chris is very good at communicating what needs to be said. He feeds back the positive answers they have given him and listens to what Sugar wants, hence emphasiing creativity and thinking outside the box.

How do you know somebody trustworthy based on a TV programme.

I must admit that Stella is by far my favourite contestant, but I don't know her well enough to trust her.

Joanna came across as rather slow witted in the interviews and the boardroom, not sure how she got so far.

I thought stella and chris did the best tonight, however I think chris has that passion more than Stella, shes a but bland and boring. Chris has good ideas and seems to work well, I would hire chris any day over stella, but thats my view

I misread that and thought it said speaking cock. Then again...

I think Jo's lack of formal education and business experience really tripped her up in the interviews.

Her slow wittedness was because she hadn't been to this kind of interview before - as she said.

Eg not knowing enough about your potential employer - I've certainly done that, but wouldn't now.

Lack of knowledge about business basics (which were not spelt out other than balance sheets) is just sheer lack of experience.

Taking a break from the Strictly forums Tabitha? I like how you manage to bring any thread down to gutter levels with just one sentence.

Lack of experience?

She has ran her own business for however many years, surely that teaches you some of the basics.....

Her constant answer of " I know I am rubbish, but I will try hard, I have business instaints" were getting tedious very fast.

How did she get that far, business instinct, really? Must have missed that.

Just go to show that having a big gob helps you up the ladder, whatever rubbish comes out of it.

One does one's best. To be honest it comes naturally.

Mrs Spratt. You've hit the nail on the head. She fooled most of us on the forums with her competence in the tasks and yet there's no denying she's not got the basic skills necessary to cope with higher levels of business. Very talented lady though.

Not sure if it's natural Tabitha or if it's through hundreds of hours of practice!

I think the others started to dislike her towards the end of the series as she was clearly one of the strongest contenders. In week 2, when she lead the chaps to victory, they had nothing to say but good things about her.