In any case, we'll find out on Wednesday.


I think I've worked that one out. In the very first boardroom (Lord Sugar's introduction boardroom) Tom is sitting in the far-left chair and he's sitting next to Maria who has thick, wavy hair. I think its just a clip from the very first boardroom.


Err... Yeah, I'm not going to lie. Katie's potential record (1 win from 6) is the biggest problem with my prediction for the next few weeks. I just can't see who else (apart from Jenna) can get fired in Sterling before the light clip.
Assuming Ricky and Jade switch teams in Week 4, Sterling will be:

Nick (Can't be fired - Light Clip)
Ricky (Can't be fired - Light Clip)
Jane (I don't think she can be fired - Light Clip)
Gabrielle (Can't be fired - Light Clip)
Laura (Can't be fired - Light Clip)
Duane (Could be fired, but I just can't see it with the edit he's had. Plus he'll have a PM win to his name in Week 3. It would be one of the biggest shocks ever in The Apprentice, imo)
Jenna (Can be fired and I think she will be.)

This all goes out the window if Lord Sugar is continually mixing up the teams (which he admittedly did do in Young Apprentice) but from the previews we do have, the teams seem untouched seeing as Katie, Tom, Stephen and Azhar are all still on Phoenix by Week 5 and Sterling in Week 7 consists of five team members who are on Sterling in Week 4.

Unless you can see Duane getting fired?

I think that Katie may PM really well next week, in spite of losing and Lord Sugar may have a soft spot for her. Like Lucinda's first PMship in Series 4, which she lost, but she sill survived due to exceptionally positive feedback.

Also, Katie must survive the boardroom again next week, proving to the boys that she's no pushover into the boardroom and making them wary of bringing her in.

PS: I'm with you btw. I was rooting for Katie last week and think she's going on a redemption arc. At the moment, she's in my Top 2 prediction and, though she may lose the majority of upcoming tasks, I think she's strong enough to survive it.



I've got to be honest I know nothing about Michael who has been invisible in the first two weeks and I genuinely can't think of anything he's said! Looks like Michael is definitely the next to go, with this new piece of information.

I've had a Google about him, no mention of working-class roots, but what I did find that was interesting was that the Radio Times had actually predicted him as the winner.Seems they got that wrong then!

I think Duane could possibly be a shock firing in the next few weeks. He could be PM and lose in a bad way, or he could do shockingly bad on a task which his team lose, you never know.

EDIT: However, I think his edit could be deceiving - Jim and Susan didn't get particularly good edits at this time last year, and they went on to be in the final 4. I think around this time Gavin had a pretty good edit iirc and he lost the next task as PM and was fired.

Michael mentions in his audition tape that he grew up in a rough neighbourhood and "wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth". He seems the type to play the "I'm Just Like You" card early and often. (TBF the preview also leaves the option that one candidate gets roistered for being posh but...I don't see it myself)

Jim got a very strong early edit. By the end of episode 3 he was the leading candidate in the opinion of most of the board, and his poor copy writing in episode 2 was effectively brushed over. The only thing against him was the wink at the end of episode 2, which had me peg him for a losing finallist/series villain edit. Susan's edit was also a classic losing finallist one - lots of plus and minus points. Gavin's edit was of a complainer IIRC - he had lots to say about how other people were doing things, but never seemed to be particularly present. Duane was a bit like that in Episode 1, but he put forward a solid contribution this week.

I thought there were some misleading early edits last year (Helen, Glenn, Tom to a certain extent (although Tom got needless positive POV at times when he was irrelevant to the plot of the episode, which is usually a strong hint)) but I wouldn't say any of those three were amongst them.

I was using the edit for as of the end of episode 2 (ie now), so what I said about Jim stands for the moment. Susan didn't come into her own until the scavenger hunt task (episode 3) which I think she PMed. Until then she was doing okay, but not exceptional and I think some people had already called her out about her age etc. From what I remember of Gavin, until ep 3 where he PMed and lost, he was seen as a strong candidate by us, so I take that to mean he had a reasonably good edit.

I stand corrected on Michael (I don't watch the audition tapes) but I still think Duane could be a shock exit, or maybe the victim of a double firing like Vincent was?

Jim had a very good edit from Week 1 and was seen as key reason why Susan's team won in Week 3. Susan's edit was described brilliiantly in the Spoiler Thread last year as a "clusterf**k of positives and negatives" As Monkseal said, she got a Losing Finalist edit.

According to spoilers, Duane wins as PM next week, so he won't have a bad PM loss.
The crucial difference between Duane and Gavin was that Gavin lost the first two tasks and seemed to moan alot to me.
Duane has won the first two tasks and has seemed a strong contender. I really can't see him going. Often early strong contenders who get a shock firing lose as PM. E.g. Simon, Gavin etc, but we know that Duane wins as PM.

So I respectfully disagree.


Duane and Michael are on different teams next week. Duane and Nick swap teams with Katie.

Even if we're talking at this exact point in the series, I'd say both Jim and Susan were established as strong contenders in episode 1 (too strong to be an early boot at least) - Jim exerted authority over the kitchen, was shown as selling well, broke up a potential fight between Edward and Glenn, and got OTT praise on "You're Fired" (IIRC they even produced a VT where he was portrayed as Superman?). Susan was shown suggesting the winning product ideas, and also disagreed with an element of Melody's business plan (not spending all the seed money), on which point she was later backed up by Lordalan. They both had weaker episode 2s, but I'd say their edit was far too strong and developed to be an early exit. They both got one whole episode of being unambiguously "right" and prominent in the plot. Not even Karen, the shockingest of shock early boots got that.

Tbf I forgot about the first task where Jim did pretty well I know Gavin was touted as a potential winner on this forum before he got fired so I took that to mean his edit was relatively decent.

I think with Duane - if we start to dislike him a bit in the next few weeks then he's definitely going to go far, would be a bit like Jim/Harry M from Junior Apprentice. I just think the fact that we can see him as a winner already could go against him. I'll use Junior Apprentice here - we all thought Harry H, Hayley or Lizzie might win, but none of them did. We just need to see how he does in the next 2 weeks and then we should have more of an idea.


See above for my reply to this I don't really remember last series until the scavenger hunt (task 3) aside from the "Jedi Jim" moment so I'm just using what I saw on these boards to be honest. I remember liking Jim and then slowly going off him, whilst I liked Tom and Susan from the start and grew to like them more and more. Wasn't a fan of Helen - almost too clinical really. I liked Leon and thought he'd do well so was disappointed when he went, whereas I strongly disliked Melody from about task 4/5.

I think the next 2-3 weeks will tell us everything.

Think that Harry M isn´t the best example, as I think most people liked him (say 70%-30%). Harry M was very much like Tom from last year (except the winning part) and I could see Katie becoming the same this year (will depend on her edit upcoming episode, as the producers will decide which way to portray her).

Duane will probably go far, but we are just waiting for proof that he will be on team Phoenix again in the future.

From my experience the majority of the people I spoke to didn't like Harry M because he wasn't a team player and whilst he did work hard, he didn't respect any of his team mates.
Duane on the other hand seems likeable and I don't think that we can read from the edit that he will be fired soon because he's too good too early.
Tom, Yasmina, Tim and especially Stella are all examples of people who performed well early on and got good early edits and went on to win. Lee, Simon and Michelle were less obvious, but if you look at it, its 50-50 in terms of winners emerging early or emerging later.

In fact I'd say the frontrunners in each series after three episodes for me would be:

Series 1 - Tim
Series 2 - Difficult as they were all a bit hopeless, but probably Ruth.
Series 3 - Jadine/Tre
Series 4 - Simon
Series 5 - Yasmina
Series 6 - Stella
Series 7 - Jim/Tom
Series 8 - Duane (Considering he appears to win as PM next week)

Out of all of them, only Simon didn't get to at least Week 9, whilst all of them, bar Simon and Jadine, got to the interviews or further.

LOL! You make him sound like Katie Hopkins



We do know that he get´s into trouble with Laura in one of the upcoming tasks, so it will be interesting to see who the viewers will support (think that Laura´s smug boardroom look in one of the intro clips is made towards Duane).



Would disagree with Jadine (who was already Eclipse mental at this point, before her breakdown later in the series) and Tom (three losses under his belt, applying that logic would mean that Katie is the frontrunner in this series).

Also, Stella was indeed the early favourite, but she did falter later in the series (becoming windowdressing, truffelgate, being a crap tourguide etc.).

Who knows? Perhaps someone like Jade will suddenly emerge as the favourite to win (like Kendra in the US Apprentice series 3).

Why all this focus on Duane?
I think Nick (winning PM and "techology entrepreneur") and to a lesser extent, Tom (early dark horse like Lee McQueen?) also have a good shot at winning.

I like Nick as well, but Duane got the best edit in the first two weeks, imo and I just can't see him being fired prior to episode 7.
The main reason for the discussion is that Duane can't be seen in the light clip (which certainly seems to be the remains of Sterling and around Week 7) and we know he's on Sterling in Week 3, whilst Nick can be seen in the light clip, so we know he survives that long.

The main discussion is what happened to Duane, whether he got fired or just moved back to Phoenix and that spiralled into whether he can win or not.

Is it possible the light shot with five people might be the final 5?

I would doubt it only because it would seem like a massive spoiler to give away, particularly as it's relatively easy to work out who is who.
Plus they are all candidates who are on Sterling in Week 4, making it seem like it is the leftovers of that team. Also, realistically, can Gabrielle and Ricky really reach the Final Five?

You never know, The baggs made final 5, LOL

I agree, seems like a really big spoiler for the BBC to leave.

I think it is certain Michael is eliminated week 3 with Jenna having a very strong probability to get the chop next.

We need a new preview clip

At this point, I'm more inclined to agree with you that Jenna is the lady in the middle of the light clip as she's wearing that watch and her hair looks lighter when she turns her head to the right. She's also wearing light brown, which Jenna can often be seen wearing during her tasks so far, while Jane tends to go for bolder colours or white to complement her dark hair.


It's certainly Jade behind Ricky, but it doesn't necessarily mean they're on the same team as she could be standing on the edge of her team next to Ricky.
Jade can be seen on the right behind Stephen in one clip, but in another clip, the girl in black on the left behind Stephen looks trimmer and could be Jenna.

Think that I know what will happen on Wednesday, team Phoenix (ketchup) will be firing at all cilinders but a botched negotiation (by Katie, see car clip) will leave them with leftover stock and that will make them lose the task (or Lord Sugar makes them lose the task because of it, the time out preview is very vague about that).

Anyway, here is my team prediction for task 4:

Team Phoenix

Adam (PM)
Stephen
Azhar
Tom
Jade
Katie


Team Sterling

Ricky (PM)
Duane
Nick
Gabrielle
Laura
Jane
Jenna


Phoenix lose again and Adam is fired.

My theory would then be that Duane goes back to Phoenix and if the fifth person in the light clip turns out to be Jade it could mean that Jenna and Jane will be fired in task 5 and task 6 (after which Jade is brought back to Team Sterling).

It could happen in a thousand different ways (for instance, it seems like Stephen is the PM on the fitness video task and it also seems his team loses the task), but this is my personal theory at the moment.

I haven't seen any previews yet, but it certainly appears that the theory that Michael will go on Wednesday is looking completely correct. I think the clip of Azhar talking to Michael about Plan A, Plan B and Plan C could be in reference to the botched negotiation.
How are they selling it btw? Are there sales to the public or are they selling it to businesses. Businesses would make more sense as I can't see people buying a condiment off the street.


I think those teams are 100% correct and I'm sure of Ricky being PM in that task. I did consider Adam getting fired in Week 4 - there is no evidence for him getting any further. I have to admit, I'm getting uncomfortable with it becoming more and more likely that Jenna won't be fired in the next two weeks! Everything there is plausible


I agree that without clearer intro clips, we don't know how we're going to get to the light clip. I think that situation is highly plausible, but I'm sticking to my original theory that Michael goes on Wednesday, Jenna next week, Azhar Week 5 and Adam Week 6, leaving Duane moving across to Phoenix in Week 7 and Jane as the middle woman in the light clip..
My main worry at this stage was Jane's performance in the last task, which does make me feel that she could get fired soon...

I was thinking about it, and I guess it's possible that Duane could get a Philip *fall from grace* style edit?

Maybe it was just me, but early on, I had Philip shoed in as an interview certainty and probably still did going into the Pantsman episode. He had a smugness that I really hated from the very first episode, but the show really pushed him as someone to watch in the early weeks, and if I recall, he had a lot of positive airtime on YF before Pantsman. I could definitely see Duane getting a smug edit if he backs up his task winning idea this week with a PM win in episode 3..

My one to watch at the moment is Jade. Her design for the women's product in E1 was given lots of positive light, especially in the boardroom where it wasn't really needed considering the women lost, and she's been fairly low key so far, which isn't a bad thing considering the women have lost both tasks. When you look at some past successful candidates, their trajectories in early episodes have been fairly under-the-radar but with splashes of positivity, unless they were PM or their role in the episode was unavoidable. (I'm thinking Kristina, Simon, Yasmina, Michelle, Tom, Helen and to an extent Chris)

Both, I imagine Lord Sugar lays on two or three big retailers (which presumably the car clip is from, the boys being in custome to add to the theme and Katie in presentation gear) and the rest they have to flog off on the street.



For me one of the big clues is that the male PM's in the upcoming tasks (Adam, Ricky, Stephen) all have people standing behind them, so this will happen sooner rather then later. Also, he has to start firing PM's at some point (0 out of 3 so far).




Tomorrow's intro clips will be interesting for all the J-girls and for Duane (they would have to appear on Phoenix really to survuve, bar the girl in the middle of the light clip).

Well I had a look at when PMs were fired in each series, and weeks 4, 5 and 6 (but more so 5 and 6) kept coming up. So in those weeks, the PMs will usually be fired - do we have anything on who the PMs are for those weeks?

No real proof, just that the likes of Ricky, Adam and Stephen are probably a few of the PM's (winning or losing) in those weeks as they are all flanked by other candidates from behind (there are 4 seats, so the teams in question have at least 5 and probably even 6 candidates on board at that point).

Cheers, I think someone had said that Ricky would probably be PM in week 4 for Sterling but that Phoenix would lose (I think they said PM for Phoenix was Adam?) so judging by that, Adam would be gone next week.

It depends on when that "light" clip is from.

Can anyone post at what time this "light clip" appears. I have no clue what y'all are talking about lol