As somebody else said in this thread, the final boardroom is ostensibly an highly strung and emotional time - and might not be difficult to force something out of them that looks real.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if they'd brought in an acting coach or something like that to try to really get them to tap into what they'd feel like if they won. Stella's did seem emotional - I can remember when I first read about the two endings (it was either with Simon Ambrose or Lee, I can't remember) so I was interested to see what the winning moment would be like - anyway Simon/Lee punched the air and said 'thank you Sir Alan' and that was it, it was an incredibly short moment before they cut away to interviews.

Stella's was obviously something they could use more of.

Not sure if I believe it or not, but the official line that they film two endings as a way of preventing leaks does make logical sense. Keeping them both on their toes for a year seems a bit cruel, and I have no doubt that their performance is at least monitored by Sugar and it must inform his final decision, but unless he puts his choice in a sealed envelope which is then opened in public, I can't see any way around it and still keep it secret.

What I can't quite figure out is why they would choose to retain continuity over just having a live final where the winner is revealed. Surely there is more TV tension to be had from doing it live than in doing it twice and hoping the reactions seem real, new haircuts be damned!

Although having heard about how useless Sugar is at live TV...

PS The US apprentice usually has a live final where they pull back the set to reveal a studio audience, but this year, they did films two ending as the ratings were awful and they couldn't be bothered. Its fair to say that it was anticlimactic and neither of the final two had the acting chops of Stella!

Stella on This Morning now and confirmed what we already know

a) filmed last year

b) told she won a few days ago

but when Eammon asked her what she has been doing since last year she said ' plenty to do, looking after her children, and preparing for this'.

Nothing about having worked for LS temporarily.

They're probably still trying to keep that from the general public. (This forum is the only place where I'd seen that knowledge published.)

If they work for Sugar for six months/a year and he actually interacts with them they may get quite a bit out of that.

I would imagine that the let down after already being employed by him would be considerably less traumatic that the let down if they really did find out directly after their weeks of intense pressure and hard work.

I know someone who was at a dinner where Nick was a guest speaker (he's apparently really good and told lots of funny stories about the show and his early days with Lord Sugar) and he explained that filming ends and both finalists work for Lord Sugar for about 6 months then a few days before the final is aired on TV he takes them both out for dinner and tells them who has actually won.

This time they worked for him for nearly a year because the show wasn't aired until December instead of the summer.

So what happens to Chris now then? Presumably he's been in a job with LS for a year. Is he now fired from that. LS more or less said during 'You're Hired' that he'd give him a job so maybe he just carries on.

I wonder how much they pay the two finalists during this interim employment - presumably considerably less than the 6 figure salary 'The Apprentice' is promised.

Plus what must it be like for this year for these candidates? Are not not even allowed to tell their friends and family what they are doing? This all sounds infeasible really. If they are working for LS I'm surprised that work colleagues don't leak this to the papers.

what is the point of the whole task thing then being shown if his decision is actually based on who he likes over the past 12 months of them working in his company

it makes a mocerky of the whole thing really

oh i'll sort u out a job for a year then let one of you go

brill work experience with ls u cant lose really

itds not clear though on the program that they do this people are shocked that this was filmed a year ago already