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Do they really only get 20 minutes?


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Old 12-11-2015, 19:17
SepangBlue
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The phone rings, a semi-clad contestant hurtles down the stairs and picks up the phone. It's 5.30am and a bright and breezy 'secretary' says:

'Lord Sugar wants you to go to such and such a place .. the cars will be ready in 20 minutes!'

Now I don't know about you, but I need a good half hour in the morning to shave, shower, dry, dress, eat some breakfast, clean my teeth and pay a visit .. and that's if the house is on fire! When it comes to the girls, how can they be expected to do all that (except shave!) and apply all their war paint in just 20 minutes?!

Surely this is merely a programme device to give the impression that there's a lot of pressure on .. as if we didn't know!
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Old 12-11-2015, 20:16
Hitstastic
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LOL!!!

...and you've got up to 8 contestants all sharing the same house with 20 minutes to get ready.

Do they all have their own en-suite to get ready? Otherwise they'd be getting into the cars still in their dressing gowns and slippers with their stomachs rumbling due to having no breakfast.

Pretty sure it's just another one of those TV tricks used to make it appear that one thing is happening, when in reality 20 minutes probably means 2 hours.
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Old 12-11-2015, 20:35
RedOrDead36
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It's a gimmick/running joke. I'm a bloke with no hair and can't get ready in that time.
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Old 12-11-2015, 21:08
Sandgrounder1
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If you listen, the voice on the phone actually says ' the cars will be outside in 20 minutes'. Doesn't mean the candidates are ready in that time! I imagine the drivers wait outside for ages...
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Old 13-11-2015, 00:13
POTD
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Imagine trying to get ready in 20 minutes, while trying to not trip over camera leads as you're being filmed in your underwear
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Old 13-11-2015, 02:26
Aslan52
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Didn't somebody mention this on "You've Been Fired" a couple of weeks ago and whoever it was insisted that they DO have to be ready in short order?

Seems like nonsense to me.

What's more, I find it a bit distasteful the way it's always 5:30 in the morning and they've always got 20 minutes to get ready.
It's like they're saying "If you want to be successful you've got to be prepared to get up at daft'o'clock and you can't afford to faff around showering or eating breakfast".

I used to make a point of getting into the office at 7am (just so I had a bit of quiet time to plan what I wanted to get done that day) and I've almost always been alone in a deserted office at that time so it's certainly not common.
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Old 13-11-2015, 04:01
RoseAnne
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Didn't somebody mention this on "You've Been Fired" a couple of weeks ago and whoever it was insisted that they DO have to be ready in short order?

Seems like nonsense to me.

What's more, I find it a bit distasteful the way it's always 5:30 in the morning and they've always got 20 minutes to get ready.
It's like they're saying "If you want to be successful you've got to be prepared to get up at daft'o'clock and you can't afford to faff around showering or eating breakfast".

I used to make a point of getting into the office at 7am (just so I had a bit of quiet time to plan what I wanted to get done that day) and I've almost always been alone in a deserted office at that time so it's certainly not common.
BIB. Yes, I think it was Jenny. Still find it hard to believe though!

I was a software engineer and often went in at 7am (due to car share). I was in a large open plan office but there were never more than 3 people in at that time. This early bird stuff makes no sense unless it's a food wholesale market task like Billingsgate or travelling somewhere.
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Old 13-11-2015, 07:15
lammtarra
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Showering before bed would seem an obvious precaution.

My belief is that the 20 or 30 minutes is real, though as has been said before, often they are actually woken before the phone call by the sound of the camera crew arriving.

What would not surprise me is if on most weeks they actually go from briefing to breakfast, rather than starting the task straight away. And similarly, on long tasks, are there planned meal breaks?
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Old 13-11-2015, 07:27
pete137
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Its complete rubbish. For a start, how come one person is always wide awake to answer the phone why everyone else is soundly sleeping ? Also, 20 mins is a joke for man or woman. You could take 20 minutes on the bog.
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Old 13-11-2015, 11:46
Shrike
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The hair alone for most of 'em (male and female) must take more than 20 minutes. Its not quick to put on a full suit either.
I think sandgrounder1 has it right in that the cars may well arrive in 20 minutes time, they could leave two hours later.
At that hour of the morning it will take very little time to get from the house to the meeting venue - so if the phone call is 5:30am, cars leave 5:50 they would likely be at the venue by 6:30 am - are the venue's staff, the film crew and Lord Sid and his flunkies all going to pole out of bed at that un-Godly hour too? Nah!
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Old 13-11-2015, 12:35
danielleh
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One thing that makes me doubt it is whenever it's very dark when they answer the phone and then "20 minutes" later it's gloriously sunny. I know it could happen, but it's doubtful.
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Old 13-11-2015, 14:55
sodafountain
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I expect they all have their own alarms, and are up and ready (or getting ready) anyway, it;s not like they don't know they need to be up at that time.

They probably get told the night before what time the call is coming, and decide which one will be last dressed to take the call for TV, simples.
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Old 15-11-2015, 13:17
SepangBlue
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Its complete rubbish. For a start, how come one person is always wide awake to answer the phone why everyone else is soundly sleeping ? Also, 20 mins is a joke for man or woman. You could take 20 minutes on the bog.
That's my kind of start to the day!
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Old 15-11-2015, 13:28
lammtarra
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Came across this badly-subbed interview with Alex from series 9.

... when the phone rings and the candidates are told they only have 30 minutes before the cars arrive they really do only have 30 minutes.

That’s still enough time to get ready though – a lot of the candidates, especially the girls, try to pre-empt it by getting up even earlier to start on their hair


http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-o...shares-7953723
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Old 15-11-2015, 17:41
Tony_Daniels
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Given that someone obviously lets a film crew inside in advance of receiving the phone call, I think it's doubtful they really do have 20 minutes.

For a start it'd take more than 20 minutes to get the shots of them hurriedly getting ready that were broadcast-able and not half-naked people running around screaming "Sh*t, have you seen my f****** shoes?"

As someone said earlier on you see them get a phone call telling them to leave in "20 minutes" with it being very dark outside and then "20 minutes" later they all emerge in broad daylight.

It's television.
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Old 15-11-2015, 17:48
4smiffy
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How can that lot all have a shit, shower and shave in 20 minutes? Not to mention doing your hair and makeup if you're female. I'm in the bathroom every morning for at least half an hour!
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Old 15-11-2015, 18:09
mrprosser
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What they need is a bit of a joker to unplug all the phones one night before bed!
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Old 15-11-2015, 18:36
Seggons
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So from the most recent broadcast you get the narrator-man saying "5:30am". You then see a half dressed David scuttle down the stairs to answer the phone. It then cuts to this shot of Elle rolling about in bed.

http://s22.postimg.org/ydjc2urtt/Clock.jpg

I've blown up the clocks which shows it's roughly 5:50am. So if it's 5:30 am when David takes the call and gets told the cars will be outside in 20 minutes. Elle is only just rolling out of bed when the cars turn up.

But like someone said above, the phone call only states it's just when the cars are turning up.
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Old 16-11-2015, 16:01
InMyArms
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Of course they get more than 20 minutes, there were 18 of them in there and this is television - they want everyone looking good.
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Old 16-11-2015, 16:40
Dogmatix
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Looking at it practically, there is no way that, as we are lead to believe, all the candidates can arise and be ready in twenty, or even thirty, minutes.

We are treated to shots of the designated phone-answerer dashing downstairs to take the call, then upstairs to shout out the news. Much hustle and bustle, including ladies kneeling before mirrors drying their hair, gentlemen ironing their shirts (or v.v.), sometimes people in their skivvies brushing their teeth. As for other bodily functions, well, we don't know how many khazis the house is equipped with... Then the candidates parade out of the house in military precision, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

The thing is, it's so obviously impossible, why bother to pretend? In fact, I'd cut that scene altogether to give us more time with the teams on-task.

I think that the cars do arrive in twenty minutes, bringing breakfast, and then they all leave a goodly hour later, well-groomed and well-fed.
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Old 16-11-2015, 19:26
Wallasey Saint
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Mentioned on You're Fired a couple of weeks ago & the fired candidate confirmed they only get 20 minutes to get ready.
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Old 16-11-2015, 19:39
mooghead
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"How can that lot all have a shit, shower and shave in 20 minutes? Not to mention doing your hair and makeup if you're female. I'm in the bathroom every morning for at least half an hour!"

I'm bald, have stubble and shit at work where I am getting paid for it, shower the night before. Spend about 2 minutes in the bathroom of a morning having a slash and brushing my teeth
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Old 16-11-2015, 19:49
VoodooChic
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Why not set their alarm for 4.30?
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Old 16-11-2015, 20:28
1fab
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Maybe they don't bother showering - eww!
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Old 16-11-2015, 21:09
Kromm
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I think the real question isn't "do they get 20 minutes". It's "why does the show bother with this fiction?"

It's such a threadbare, unnecessary one. So why?
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