my previous post was rightly removed because i was too strong in stating my frustration with natasha's actions. i have read again carefully the "community guidelines" and tried to make my post as rational as possible and based on facts.

i thought natasha was very unfair to suzy this week. it seems she made up the story about suzy constantly stressing her out to deflect attention from the fact she did not understand the task and could not sell.

her choice was to either blame jim or suzy both who both sold brilliantly on the task while she was not able to sell anything.

she knows jim if she attacks jim, he will rip her to shreds. so once again little suzy becomes the innocent punchbag each week for the woman that is not performing, edna, zoe, this week natasha.

i find natasha one of the more frustrating candidates to watch that i can remember. she does nt have the charm required to sell. when other candidates make simple requests of her or questions, she somehow manages to turn it into an argument. she does nt seem smart enough to grasp basic concepts.*

but i found her behaviour last night really sad to watch. when she was with suzy selling, and suzy was selling really well and natasha was nt, she dealt with her insecurity by doing what all poor performing candidates who are project managing do, they mask their inability to sell/be creative/contribute to the task in any way; by saying they are "project managing their team" which manifests itself as*

1)*interupting/hijacking others who are selling well

2) shouting at others who are doing a good job creatively

3) standing around looking a bit clueless and insecure and shouting at others who are doing well because they are jealous they can do what they can't

4) standing around looking a bit clueless and insecure and shouting at others who are doing well because they are jealous they can do what they can't

5)*standing around looking a bit clueless and insecure and shouting at others who are doing well because they are jealous they can do what they can't

6) you get the picture

i have also noticed natasha lies quite a lot when in the boardroom. others are sitting back in their chair at least looking relaxed. she sits hunched forward, blinking quickly, shifting her gaze all the time. and when she is asked a question by lord sugar/karen/nick which is addressing a problem which could be her fault, she is immediately answering, talking really fast and often lying about someone else to get them in unfair trouble and deflect attention from her own inability to understand the task/sell/be creative/contribute or as in this week all of these

this week it was suzy, you could see it in natasha's actions and her face as she watched suzy sell well she was seething with jealousy and insecurity; she was going to try and jeopardise and annoy suzy whatever way she could so she could use her polite responses "as causing her constant stress and ruining her own ability to perform". saying i have put my orders in the book and asking politely please dont interrupt my sales does not constitute causing constant stress. i am glad suzy stood up for herself.*

it would be interesting if natasha gets through to the interview stage. i have observed natasha embellishing the truth about others with just mildly probing questions. the interviewers in the interview stage really really challenge you and i wonder if this characteristic of natasha might be her undoing?*

i don't think i am being unfair to natasha in this post. these are observations based on facts (we miss you rafa benitez) i.e. what characteristics and traits natasha has demonstrated so far on the show. am i wrong?

Yet in the edit we do see them arguing. We see Susan object when Natasha jumped into one of her sales, for example. I daresay to Natasha, that was Susan causing stress. (I think Susan was in right, as it happens, but that's not the point.)

In other tasks, Susan has been irritating to various other candidates, and even to Karren. It's quite likely Natasha was being sincere.


I don't recall Edna or Zoe using Susan as a punch-bag. Generally when Zoe had a go at her, it was Susan who was underperforming or being irritating. When Susan performed well, Zoe got on with her fine.

(Jim has criticised Susan in the boardroom, by the way, and he's not a woman.)


Examples would help.

I think she puts on a lot of positive spin, and dresses up her own contribution. I don't recall actual lies, but then I try to avoid accusing candidates of that because there are usually other explanations. (Eg, forgetting what actually happened.)

I do think Natasha is covering up her own inadequacies, yes. I don't think she has a good way of interacting with others - for example, telling Suzy to 'stop embarrassing herself' when Suzy was expressing how she felt. It closed down all communication, but not in a constructive way, such as taking on board what Suzy was saying, then closing the subject and moving on. It was a put down. Really terrible from a project manager to a team member in my opinion. However by this stage of the process I imagine the candidates are really under pressure and I think Suzy, for all her young years, is actually right and Natasha can't handle the pressure.

Btw, is the caps key on your keyboard broken or are you typing this on your 'phone? I'm also not sure what the asterisks relate to.

fair points i should have used more examples. its happened a few times and i thought hang on thats not true.

but i cant remember the exact details. yesterdays episode when she fabricated how susan stressed her out i thought here we go again

they are not foot note indicators leading to more great insight