Helene merely delegated tasks left right and centre (and she couldn't even get that right) but what exactly was her own contribution? She was just milling around sipping coffee.

I think she had a lucky escape. She didn't display any of the qualities she kept boasting about on her VT. The fact she won has falsely inflated her ego further because the win had very little to do with her managerial skills.

What are your thoughts?

I agree, and I find it hilarious that she says she hates incompetance and bullying!

I liked Helene last week but this week I almost laughed when she won and boasted about how good she was and how its clear to see. She won by fluke and showed herself to be a terrible project manager

The wide eyed look she gave to Lucinda whilst talking about her 11 hours in the kitchen was terrifying!

After seeing her slate "others" for not playing as a team last week, I was really surprised by Helene's behaviour last night. If she wanted to show up Lucinda for playing the "victim" game then surely it would have been better to have learnt the computer with her at the same time, and then take over the printing to show her up for being "a useless technophobe". Instead she seemed as if she had found the person who she was going to take into the BR if her "team" lost.

I am confused too.

I never actually saw her make any decisions, presumably some were made and her handling of Lucinda was not only offensive but from a management perspective inept in the extreme and damaging to the team's morale and its prospects for success. Helene was much more interested in nailing Lucinda as utterly hopeless and responsible for the team's likely failure than she was in trying to avoid failure.

She had something to eat as well, don't forget that.

No, I didn't see Helene do anything constructive whatsoever, other than delegating tasks to everybody else whilst she stood around stuffing her face and berating their ineptitude and incompetence.

Her team managed to scrape together a fortunate win but I didn't see what she actually contributed to the victory herself.

Well, looks like last week's declaration that it should be a Helene/Simon final (on my part) has gone to pot. One of them's gone and the other has proved herself almost as bad as professional ultra-bitch Jenny.

so glad it wasn't just me that thought this. She was such a hypocrite and lied so blatantly in the boardroom! Why is she out to get Lucinda so much? Lucinda at least contributed in some way - I didn't see Helene do anything apart from eat,drink and bitch. Shame she won really - would have been interesting to hear Nick and Sir Alan's take on things (more than Nick said already)

She looked pathological

And I think Helene was missing the point (probably deliberately). I think Lucinda would have happily engaged in a task that was boring and tiresome and strenuous like working in the kitchen. It was the fact she couldn't understand what she was doing that was bothering her. And as a technophobe myself, I know how helpless and frustrated she must have felt!

Yes I had them down as dead certs for the final 4!

This is series is proving highly unpredictable.

I think the truth of the matter is Helene was just as clueless regarding the technological side of things as well. She was determined not to try and learn how to process the photos herself because she knew she would have fared no better. She wanted the blame to lie exclusively with Lucinda.

Yep. And she took the chance to slate Lucinda for something she couldn't do herself during the task.

Helene stood or sat at various intervals and shovelled food and drink in her vast gob.

I totally agree and Helene would have come across a LOT better if she had (to quote Lucinda) attributed the right people to the right skill set. I wouldn't have had a problem with Helene delegating everything if she had actually listened to Lucinda rather than try to make it look as if she was lying about being clueless about technology. It was like the visitor to a foreign country who thinks that if you shout at someone loud enough they'll understand.

Yes, good analogy lol

Why didn't Nick pick up n that? Was he not there, or did he perhaps tell Sir Al and we didn't see that?

I think she felt she couldn't work the computer and manage the entire team at the same time. She was avoiding the mistake Simon made, of getting too close to one part of the task. We didn't see much else she did because she won, and the edit focusses on losers and mistakes. Not being featured is a good thing.

She could have swapped Lucinda with Raef, but that would have meant two people doing jobs they hadn't trained for.

I think she just didn't want to work the computer, or even try. It was much easier to stand there and belittle Lucinda for not being able to do what she couldn't do herself.


Did she get close to any part of the task though? As has been said she delegated everything and then stood around criticising.

She's obviously made for management.


She was just too stubborn to make the change. For some reason she didn't want Lucinda out selling and put her in a role she knew Lucinda was uncomfortable with from the start.

That was bad enought, but to then go into the boardroom and claim Lucinda hadn't said she wasn't good with technical equipment was just low.

This year's lot really do seem to be a nasty bunch.

I rather like Helene - I'm not sure why - I just do!

tbh - I don't think I would come across too well on tv if all my fobiles were shown up - and I'd have found it hard to sympathise with Lucinda's complete inability to even grasp the very very basics of computer skills ... and be so proud of the fact that she's never used a digital camera and doesn't do technology - good grief how does this woman go through life - she is intensely irritating and I would sympathise with anyone who had to either be her team leader or her PA.

I reckon there is more to Helene than last week's botch at project managing I just hope we get to see it - she also looks a bit like my cousin so that's why I've got a soft spot for her! Hey - I never said I had good reasons to like her!!

She is the most vile of the bunch and pretty stupid to think that Sir Alan wouldn't see through her poor management of Lucinda (insisting she be solely responsible for producing all the prints)! It's one thing being conniving but you gotta be smart with it...something Helene ain't!

She's also got one of those faces you just wanna punch...as does Claire!!

She basically set Lucinda up to be the fall guy if they lost, but Lucinda willl actually manage this all by herself if she keeps dithering along the way she is.

Helene was also bullying with it, a bit like Jenny the jaw. (sorry but the way she behaved the other week, this is the least she deserves).

We had Raef, Lucinda and Helene in the back room and I didn't see Helene or Raef do anything in the task, apart from her berating Lucinda.

Well Helene admitted she was just as useless at anything technical, and could give no help in fixing their problem apart from criticising.

Raef was single-handedly creating the mugs for the customers. He got on with the job at hand with minimal fuss or drama.