Well, I mean it is still about business given that they are in the running for a business investment, isn't it?

If the producers set up that vegan shop, I don't think it makes a great deal of difference. Most vegan places state that they are vegan quite prominently to attract their target market, so it really doesn't let Mergim off for not noticing.

Sure they get an investment but I am certain he chooses them based on their proposal. Many of the things they do in the show are of no relevance, with many not even really business related. E.g. directing a short film for an advert is not really how you would decide whether this person is going to be good at running a recruitment firm. Even selling dodgy lunch boxes to folk passing by in the street is completely different to the skills they will need to actually start up a small business. They try to make out these things are relevant, normally by going on about Sugar selling tat out of the back of a van in the early days, but it is just BS. Most people are clearly there for reality TV purposes with maybe 2 or 3 who have been deemed potentially worth investing. I doubt he would pick them on the basis of how well they designed a milk carton, though. Some tasks are even less business relevant at times.

As for the vegan shop, I am only imagining a possibility based on things I have read from how other reality shows often manipulate, with producers virtually scripting things. I don't just mean shows like TOWIE but shows of a more similar ilk to The Apprentice. I have no knowledge of this example, I just wouldn't be surprised if the producers said "ye it is a vegan shop but they might still buy the fish, just think how great you will look managing to sell fish to a vegan shop, just go for it" then a little wink like they are giving them a tip. Then rubbing their hands as they have another classic moment of stupidity for everyone to laugh at. A show like Ramsay's Nightmares apparently does contrive situations pretty much that blatantly, if not worse. That is why the same stuff seems to happen every episode. Maybe The Apprentice UK is not as bad as that but, as I say, I just wouldn't be surprised.

I think that most of the candidates are selected on a combination of both being enjoyable to watch and being a good potential investment. I don't think anyone has zero chance of winning from the off. In Series 7 I don't think he knew anyone's plans to start off with, which meant that in the final three out of four of them weren't very good, and the one that was better (Susan's) wasn't advanced enough in its present form. In Series 8 it was explicitly stated in the first boardroom that he has an interest in all of their plans, and since Series 9 they have openly discussed on the show what they are. Of course, come the interviews it invariably turns out that many of them have problems - Lord Sugar only knows the first line or so, not the technicalities.

Fair enough I might be exaggerating a bit that there are so few viable options. I suspect there are at least some no-hopers in there for entertainment reasons but maybe not as much of that as I was suggesting. It might be my cynicism but I simply don't believe Sugar when he says he only reads the short descriptions. I reckon he has a better idea of the options than that. You make a good point about that earlier series when most of the proposals were poor in the last few people. Perhaps the show has learned from that and now it is worked out more in advance, including Sugar being more in the know. Alternatively, I might just be getting carried away.

Regardless, it is obviously still an entertainment show and I find it very entertaining so I don't actually have any problem even if there are lots of contrived things going on. Or not.

I actually don't see why 'being entertaining' and 'being a strong contender' are so mutually exclusive. I think there have been many people over the years who have been both, right back as far as Saira from Series 1. In fact, I don't think there are many people on the show who are just idiots - most of them seem to have been quite successful outside of the process.

I must have explained myself badly. I am not saying being entertaining and being a contender are mutually exclusive. I am only saying that some (perhaps not as many as I originally suggested) are perhaps not there because of their amazing business skills or innovative business idea. Of course there are some who can be both. There have been several people over the years, however, who are basically Big Brother types albeit with at least some intelligence (and apparently some business background, although even that sometimes amounts to being a student or low level management). If the show was just about business it would be boring to many viewers and the producers would struggle to provide the GBP with the requisite arguing, stupid mistakes, out of control ego moments, triumphant comebacks, etc. My only point really is that it is "convenient" that all those Apprentice staples just happen to occur every year. It's not by luck.

Well, no one ever makes that argument about MasterChef. do they? People mess up sometimes on that, but it seems like the principle entertainment is supporting the candidates rather than condemning them. I've only watched one series of MasterChef - I quite liked it, but I don't have time to watch it on a regular basis. But it's a similar mindset to how I go into The Apprentice. Maybe I'm in a minority there.

I do think a lot of this is deliberately set up. Too many coincidences for it not to be. There's a lot going on behind the scenes that's already pre arranged or set up for them before they get there that we as viewers are clearly not told about.

Masterchef is more of a serious competition that the contestants are chosen for their ability, maybe personality but ultimately it's about cooking.

The Apprentice is about getting a load of over inflated egos, gobshites and generally unlikable big shots on a show so that they can set them up for a massive fall from grace and to be torn to shreds by Lord Sugar because at the end of the day nobody likes a bighead. This show is more about making fools out of these idiots in a Big Brother freakshow kind of way rather than the actual end result of winning. It's about getting a load of stupid people with massive delusions of grandure together and making them look stupid and seeing them all stab one another in the back for an opportunity of a job interview.

This is just a freakshow. This is not the same as Bake Off or Masterchef which yes, does rely on drama but isn't there to make fun of the contestants in the name of entertainment. This is more like car crash tv.

Interesting. Do you think that's how the producers see it? It's not how I see it, and it never has been, but it does frustrate me when it seems that all they want us to see is silly people messing up and bickering. Some of the series have had a lot less of that - Series 8, for example, was brilliant, because it was almost a return to old-school decent performers and tasks, whilst still having some hilarious moments like English sparkling wine - but generally what I watch it for is to support people rather than condemn them. I prefer to see people do well.

^^ I wouldn't go that far, but I do think the candidates are set up to fail and to be ridiculed. A basic example is talk of "the boys team". Calling them boys makes them sound like children playing at business. They are adult men and women, several over 30 years old, and several already running their own businesses. Another example is the sleep deprivation. The phone call was at 5:30am this week. That's done deliberately because people make more mistakes when they are tired. Another example is not allowing them to communicate with their families for emotional support. It's unrealistic: even a businessman alone in a foreign country would be able to phone back to his wife in the evenings. Another example is the task restrictions, such as no internet access, which leave them floundering on problems that would take 2 minutes to google in real life. These restrictions are not explained to the audience, so the candidates just look stupid. This is all on top of the tasks themselves, which expect them to do in 2 days what would normally take 6 months. They are edited so that most of the work the candidates do is not shown. The focus is on their mistakes.

It is probably a carry-over from sports that we talk about teams of girls and boys. Sleep deprivation is why I'm willing to give Selina a pass on fading in and out of tasks. She might have the concentration span of a goldfish or even be lazy, but the chances are she was just very tired.