Micheal was just a passer-by who snuck into the house for a laugh on week one. By the time anyone realised he was an imposter it was too late to edit him out and they made him stay, despite him having the flu. His family are relieved to have him home in one piece.

Ah bless him....had the flu also at the start....seriouisly Ricky should have gone tonite!!

I know he messed up on the negotiating, but Michael seemed like a genuinely decent bloke. He had the face of an honest man - a rarity in the world of The Apprentice!

I felt sorry for him when Ricky laid into him in the boardroom.

I think that Michael was too 'normal' to do well on this show and he already has a business that he seems more than happy to go back to so perhaps he didn't want to fight that hard.

Those who get further on The Apprentice nowadays seem to be the type who want to be media 'stars' more than those with solid business acumen. I still enjoy the show but it's not really about finding Lord Sugar the ideal apprentice (business partner) now..... if it ever really was.

He was so out of place. Almost all of the boys are quite "smug" this year (particularly Adam & Ricky). Michael is the only one who's quite "normal". The Apprentice is not for someone like him. This episode (condiment) is actually boring, even the firing was boring.

I like his comedy ears.

Ricky the tool should have went tonight!
It doesn't make much difference anyway, Michael would never have won

I agree Ricky should have gone, not enough that he made such a massive mistake the team would never had won, but he seemed clueless about the impact of his actions (We didn't sell that many anyway). Doh!

I'm holding on for the sexist elf-man to go. I can't abide him.

I agree with this Sid, he looked like an honest, decent and quite modest man.

But I don't think he did himself any favours when he defended himself with the old 'I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth; etc. That was a genuine weakness I thought.

I think there were many things he could have said to defend himself too such as he could have said the products were priced to high to sell well to the trades due to the fiasco with the production.

But overall, I agree that he does seem like an honest, decent and quite modest man. And really not the right sort of person to be on the apprentice!

I wish him well with this business. I'm also glad that people like this go on the show every now and again to highlight that you don't need to be a completely unlike-able g*t to be successful.

I couldn't believe some of his comments such as: "The guys will look after her [the female project manager, Katie]".

Because of course, women are so fragile and normally only found in the kitchen....

Although actually, I think he might fancy Katie too which is even more hilarious.

Yep, I cringed when he said that and knew he'd sealed his fate

I missed the result last night. Was Michael the one who was silent for the first two weeks? I get him and Stephen mixed up.

I agree with you, he was making out he was like SAS starting with nothing etc.

I do think it was a shame he didn't get one more chance. On her record of being in the boardroom three times (once as PM) I really thought the odds were stacked against Katie being in the firing line. And additonally, if Sugar thought the fault of the task lay with the production aspect (in the sub team) then Ricky should count himself veyr lucky to be given a second chance (which Michael wasn't afforded). My house thought Michael got the fire due to the lack of sales he made, so, I suppose a candidate won't always need to fear going even if he was percieved as root of the problem as long as he/she reedems themself further down the line where the first fault is overhauled by a good performance come the end of the task (which I suppose it was Ricky did).

I don't think he messed up on the negotiating at all. He is getting a lot of stick for refusing to deal with that trade buyer at £1.95 or whatever it was that she was demanding. However, the simple fact is that the wasted batch in the factory pushed up their unit price meaning they had to sell for a higher price to recoup their costs. That being so, refusing that deal was completely the right decision. Sometimes it is better to walk away than to sell at any price.

What the subteam should have done was call the PM and say that they were struggling to sell to the trade because the price was too high. The team could then have made the decision to have both subteams selling to the retail market at the full retail price.

Ricky was lucky. I saw through his spin about if they had made any more they could not have sold it as they had stock left over and I am surprised Lord Sir Alan didn't call him on it.

Surely you're not accusing Tom Pellereau of that trait? He hasn't courted the media and has stayed out of the spotlight until now - and he's only cropping up now because the new series has started he's been asked to do interviews and appearances, but he hadn't done many/any since winning last year and the flurry of interest died down. He seems genuinely disinterested in fame and fortune other than any that comes along attached to his inventions that he's achieved on his own terms. The man has a right to earn a living, after all, and if he can invent something that makes him money then good on him! But he doesn't really shout about it.

I never got the "oh they're just media whores now, it was never like this in the old days". The first two series of this show featured Saira Khan, Paul "I'm Taking Acting Lessons" Torrisi, James Max, Michelle Dewberry, Ruth Badger and Syed Ahmed. I struggle to think of a bigger crop of media tarts. The show's got less serious, I'm not sure the candidates have.

^

Urgh James Max. He was the one who always looked like he'd just sat on a drawing pin, wasn't he ? Jolly hockey sticks, what ho.

Especially at that time of the day. As he said on You're Fired, it was their first pitch. For all he knew, the second pitch might have been prepared to pay a higher price.

It was a strange firing. Lord Sugar usually has a reason, but this time it was entirely gut-feel. It seemed to be partly due to Michael sweating a lot at the opening meeting (due to his having gastric flu), and partly his poor boardroom performance.

Yes - James Max, now an LBC presenter in London and regular paper reviewer on Sky News. He is the classic I love bankers, I hate public sector workers/services, I pay too much tax etc k**b. I am hardly left wing - but he is the only radio presenter I know who literally makes me want to chuck the radio out the window when he is on!