Here's a thread to see how your opinions of the contestants changed from before and after the 4th show. Add UP/DOWN/SAME and a little reason why.

Simon - UP/DOWN
As a person Simon went even further up in my estimations. Sadly as a candidate for the Apprentice and as a PM it went down. I feel it was the right decision to fire him. As he admitted he was in over his head. However disruptive Alex and Claire were, I felt he was at fault for the failures of the processing. They did try to explain the numbers on the sheet weren't matching the numbers on the memory stick.

Alex - DOWN
He wussed out on the role he was assigned. He then went further down in my estimation by trying to backstab Claire. I don't think the issue was how busy or wrong it was going. They should've known when the numbers didn't match that things were gong t*ts up.

Claire - UP
I surprised myself by writing this. If someone had told me that these 3 would've been in the boardroom I'd have wanted Claire out after her undermining of Sara last week. This week, however, she stepped up to do a role Alex wouldn't, and although she undermined Simon, she was right to be worried about his managerial style. I don't think she was responsible for the proccessing errors. As I said above, they did know until the got to the computer that the numbers didn't match up, and when they tried to tell Simon he hung up on them. Her point about not flying under the radar was a good one too.

Jenny - DOWN
She managed to barely be in this episode, yet still came across as a sly b*tch. The look she gave Alex before she turned on Claire made my skin crawl.

Micheal - SAME
Was barely in it. Gutted we missed out on the weekly 'Micheal being a fool' slot. Thinking he could actually be better than I first gave him credit for.

Sara - UP
Worked hard for Simon. After a fairly good week as PM, and defending Lucinda against Jenny, Sara could become a favourite of mine.

Helene - DOWN
Liked Helene up until this week. Thought she was foolish to put Lucinda in that role. Can understand why she got frustrated with her though, what CAN she do?!? Whilst I was dissappointed with her I'm not going to give up on her yet. Unlike Jenny, the rest of her team worked well for her, and she had some good ideas.

Lucinda - SAME
Lucinda is Lucinda. I like her. I am worried she might just be useless.

Raef - SAME
Didn't do much. Still rate as a strong candidate.

Kevin - UP
Well it couldn't go down after last week. Whilst he didn't do much, I thought he did an alright job with all the customers waiting hours for photos.

Lee - UP
Again, its only gone UP because I've never rated him before. He seemed good with the camara. If Simon had had a Lee on his team, maybe he would've been able to concentrate on managing.

Jennifer - SAME
Didn't see her do a thing.

Lindi - SAME
Was tempted to say UP just because she didn't offer any personal services this week. Only reason she didn't do that tho was because I don't believe she was actually there this week!!

I still don't know them all to be honest so i'll just go with who stood out in last night's episode:

Simon - DOWN then UP!
I really didn't think Simon was very good as PM. He was quite rude and obnoxious I thought, speaking over people and generally cutting them off/dismissing their ideas.

Alex - DOWN (only just)
He was going fine until he turned the whole thing around on Claire which I thought was a bit sneaky. I could see where he was coming from with the Simon's 2nd man thing and though Margaret over-reacted on that a bit! Still like Alex though.

Claire- UP
She went out and got on with the job. I didn't really see her as undermining Simon's role but just questioning his leadership skills as he was a p*ss poor PM in all fairness! It wasn't her fault the numbers didnt match up on the pc.

Helene - DOWN
Why put Lucinda in a role that was destined to go wrong for her?! And then blatantly lie about knowing she was the wrong person for the job. The personal insults "lazy" etc in front of SAS weren't called for either.

Lucinda - SAME
It wasn't Lucinda's fault she was put in a role completely unsuitable for her. Would like to see her in a more prominent role though to see how she would cope.

Lee - UP
Same reasons as OP. He hasn't really flown on the radar much but when he does it all seems pretty positive.

Mine :

Simon : SAME - I still liked him and he was one of my favourites but I do feel that the firing was justified. I knew , that even if he hadn't been fired there was no chance of him winning now. SAS had given him a chance to prove himself and he failed in his role of PM miserably (although I do think that was partly due to the undermining done by both Alex and Claire) and made a loss. Claire hadn't been given a chance to prove herself , now she has , if she fails she's out.

Sara : UP - I think she was the only person on Simon's team who was supporting him all the way , even in the unseen footage she was the only one not taking digs at him. I think she's very commited and hardworking although I know that she'll probably make one mistake and get fired unlike some of the others.

Jennifer M : SAME - She's my fav but I didn't see anything that would make me like her more or less.

Claire : DOWN - If she's not team leader then don't cross her way. She's one of those people who will always make trouble in a workplace.

Alex : DOWN, DOWN, DOWN , WAY DOWN (in the wise words of Leona Lewis ) - What a weasel! The way he just switched on Claire to save himself was out of order and I was so glad Margaret put him in his place.

Lee : SAME - didn't see much of him.

Lindi : SAME - again , she was hardly featured.

Helene : DOWN - Awful team leader and her bullying tactics were plain awful too.

Lucinda : UP - Purely for saying "Don't speak to me like that! How dare you!" to Helene

Raef : SAME - didn't see him in enough action.

Jenny C : DOWN - she's a real backstabber and that pure evil look she flashed to Alex before switching on Claire was scary!

Micheal : DOWN - I still like him but was disappointed to see him bitching about Simon rather than discussing his problems with the theme with him.

Kevin : UP - Just for not using the term "Booyakah" in this episode

Simon: SAME - I was far more attached to his character, but less impressed with his business skills. So the two cancel each other out.

Sara - UP. She was the best performer on her team, which doesn't say much really.

Jennifer M - SAME. I really can't remember anything she has done recently. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and say that is due to competance rather than any kind of ineffectiveness.

Claire - DOWN. Horrid person, and with no redeeming business assets.

Alex - DOWN. Stood around waiting for the task to fail, ready to attack Simon in the boardroom. Then he got OWNED by Margaret and changed his attack to Claire. A deserving target, but still low.

Lee - UP. He ran the customer side of the business well.

Lindi - SAME. Not on screen.

Helene - DOWN. I think she totally mismanaged her team by putting someone like Lucinda in such a position of responsibility. Like Nick said, she did nothing to re-arrange her team when problems arose. I'm no entrepeneur, but that seems like bad management to me.

Lucinda - DOWN. Useless and self-righteous.

Raef - SAME. He almost got an improvement on the value of that FANTASTIC pink jumper.

Jenny - UP. Unlike practically everyone else on Simon's team, she backed him throughout the task rather than continually undermining him. And I have a crush on her.

Michael - SAME. Didn't do much really.

Kevin - SAME. Still rubbish.

Claire-UP????????????????????
Up what? Everyone's nose? her own backside??????
She was appallllllllllling yesterday, destructive, negative and generally horrid.

Simon: DOWN - As a PM but, UP when I saw him on "You're Fired". Far too nice to be an Apprentice.

Sara - SAME, as I liked her last week.

Jennifer M - SAME. She seems to be quietly getting on with things and more importantly, staying out of the "bitching"

Claire - DOWN. I didn't think I could dislike her more than I did last week but.......

Alex - DOWN. Lower than a snake's belly for turning on Claire the way he did.

Lee - SAME. I don't mind him but I'm a little worried about the "Lee McQueen is........" comments.

Lindi - SAME. I'm not really impressed by her but, will try to reserve judgement until she has to defend herself in the BR.

Helene - DOWN. Awful behaviour from someone who professes to dislike bullies.

Lucinda - DOWN. Although I don't like the way she is treated by some of the others, I do wonder if there is a bit of a "Martyr" complex there.

Raef - SAME. I really like this guy but, wonder if he's too posh to be SAS's Apprentice.

Jenny - UP. When she's not got the pressure of leadership on her she does seem to put her weight behind winning the task

Michael - SAME. Another one who I'm not too sure about.

Kevin - SAME. Didn't see much of him.

Simon - Up. He had to put up with two morons who were determined to lose the task. He took defeat with dignity and shouldered the blame (which was not all his) Sir alan should have fired all 3 in the boardroom.

Sara - Up, liking her more. She seems quite bright and gets stuck into the tasks. She's a bit sexy as well!

Jennifer M - Same - I've even forgiven her "Best Sales woman in europe" comment now. Not been featured much but when she has she seems to have good ideas and good work ethic.

Claire - DOWN!! even worse than last week. She WANTED to lose the task and blame Simon. Useless


Alex - DOWN!! I thought he was ok before but what a coward, slimy and unimpressive.


Lee - Up - Thought he done the task really well.

Lindi - Same - She still hasn't done anything to impress.

Helene - Down - Spent most of her time creating a scapegoat (Lucinda) instaed of concentrating on the task.

Raef - UP - liking him more, kept out of the timewasting bitching and got on with it. Made me laugh with the mug sticker on upside down as well!

Jenny - Same - still waiting for something

Micheal - Same - Still think he's a backstabber

Kevin - UP - was so awful last week, wasn't that difficult. Only really because of his "They're Sellin like ot cakes" in his west country accent!

OOPS - forgot

Lucinda - Down - Ok she was put in a difficult position but didn't really help herself with her whining.

Totally agree with this summation of Claire - couldn't have put it better myself. I think she's had a tough press after this week that isn't necessarily deserved. Surallen obviously seems something in her too or he wouldn't have saved her...

Simon - Up - Ok so he wasn't a great project manager, but his honesty and humility in defeat shows him to be a real winner whatever the outcome of the show.

Sara - Up Liked her attitude to the task this week

Jennifer M - Same - Solid but unspectacular this week

Claire - Down - Nasty piece of work who deliberately set out to lose the task along with.....

Alex - Down - who showed himself to be a first class weasel who even out-nastied Claire this week.


Lee - Up - Slightly raised in my view, though more to do with the awfulness of the other contestants than any brilliance of his own.

Lindi - Same - Still daft as a brush, but on the quiet side this week.

Helene - Down - Loses marks for not focusing on the task in favour of backstabbing.

Raef - Up - Largely anonymous this week, but that amusing moment as he looked on as the women bickered won him some brownie points from me

Jenny - Same - Didn't see much of her. I think she's a better candidate than some give her credit for, even if she isn't very nice.

Micheal - Up - He bores me to tears, but he did alright this week.

Kevin - Same - Comic relief

Lucinda - Same - Remains a wet blanket

Simon - DOWN then UP then UP MORE! - He did come across as a bit of a big head at the beginning of the episode, but I loved his enthusiasm and willingness to get involved and stuck in to what he was doing. Sad to see him go; he was very gracious and an absolute gem on "You're Fired!" Will definitely be missed.

Claire - DOWN - Respected her willingness to take responsibility, then lost it all when I was reminded that she's a complete undermining cow out to sabotage anyone from performing better than her in a task. Sure, this is a very clever skill in a game-show context but I think she's got absolutely no chance of winning this job. You can't get by on being a sly, contentious biatch - you need the enthusiasm and ideas that Simon showed.

Alex - DOWN DOWN DOWN - I find Alex as attractive as a garden rake - so that's his only supposedly redeeming feature torn straight out of my book. Horrible little boy - wimp, wuss, loser, scared to take responsibility in case he isn't lucky enough to get a dumbass like Nicolas to go up against in the boardroom if it all goes wrong. Sly and clever, but, again, these are far from the only characteristics one needs in order to take on the job of apprentice. He has no ideas of his own and I don't he ever will have because he's too scared to do anything but keep his head down and blame-shift at the nearest opportunity (see: switching the blame to Claire in the boardroom). Weasel weasel weasel. Needs to go.

Helene - DOWN - I loved how she stood up for Sara against Claire last week - yet this week she turned out to be just as bad as Claire. Another sly biatch (like we needed more ) who's only in it for herself and is prepared to tell outright lies to make other people look bad (Lucinda). I also don't quite know exactly what she did as PM other than stalk around like a big domineering tranny with a coffee cup in her hand.

Sara - UP - Sara's my favourite. I've loved her every move so far - trying to stick up for Lucinda when Jenny was bullying her, acknowleding Claire's sly tactics, supporting Simon as PM when everyone else was trying to bring him down. I also think she's the only PM who's actually had an interesting idea and made it work (Bollywood themed pub). Hope she wins.

Lucinda - SAME - She seems quite lovely and colourful but I really don't see what skills she has to offer. I also feel bad that people keep having a go at her for no good reason.

Michael - DOWN - I just hate his terrible, whiny voice. I can't see him working as an escort with such an unseductive vocal as that. Didn't see much of him this week, but all I did see was him doing some pointless bitching about Simon to the camera.

Jenny - DOWN - Inherently loathesome. Will turn on anybody and will help other people turn on each other if need be. Terrible woman with no evident business skills.

Everyone else - SAME - They didn't even seem to feature in this week's episode.

Simon - Down - Really nice bloke but definitely not apprentice material. Very weak as PM and just looked totally overwhelmed as the day went on.

Claire - Down - Nasty to the core. She really is intent on sabotaging each task in which she isnt PM. Loved her shocked look at Alex as he turned on her in the boardroom.

Alex - Down - Very conniving and unhelpful to Simon.But I loved his turning on Claire in the boardroom and the look between him and Jenny when they realised they could pin the blame on Claire. Best moment was the smackdown from Margaret. He is one to watch as I feel he will be far more conniving and centered on winning at all costs in the weeks ahead.

Helene - Down - Annoyed me with her insistence on Lucinda doing the technical stuff. She lied about her in the boardroom too and wasnt shown doing that much herself which could be the fault of the editing.

Lucinda - Down - Annoying too as it must be frustating working alongside her. She does seem to rub all the other women up the wrong way.

Everyone else were just in the background for me so no firm opinions.