We love the underdog in this country and it's no better illustrated than with our rooting for Lucinda and recently Sara. We hate bullying as a nation and instantly warm to those who suffer from it, like the two aforementioned ladies, or who won't sink to it or tries to prevent it (Raef).

Is it the same in US Apprentice, I wonder? Or are they more competitive and inured to the concept of bullying?
And the other countries where the programme is franchised?

Hi Jane,

I'm not convinced Sara and Lucinda are the underdogs. They've proved they are very competent so are not merely generating support out of sympathy.

We Brits are known for our sense of fair play though, so we will stick up for a victim of blatant bullying.

Odd as it is, though this is true in the wider sense, we are very prone to bullying once in cliques - as can be seen in any workplace or sports ground. Before we congratulate ourselves on a "British sense of fair play" we have to remind ourselves that all the contestants are Brits - at the very least they have all been brought up and/or educated here. Where, then, their sense of fair play - apart from Raef, that is, and Lucinda (who actually didn't say very much, she just didn't join in as she knew she'd be for it as well if she did).

Just a reminder that one of the most popular football teams in Britain (and the world, of course) has employed a number of star players who have been foul and despicable in their behaviour both on and off the pitch, yet still hailed by fans as heroes. I am sure the same can be said of many other football players, and it is a national sport to jeer at each other about various teams, form cliques and often to be quite unpleasant all in the name of sport.

I think that we Brits like to get moral about other people but often forget to check our own behaviour. I think we have that in common with the whole human race...

Yeah, good points.

Agreed!

And if they are the underdogs just that just make the rest (Raef excluded) just dogs?

I don't think it is so much an underdog issue but is more based on the way bullying and a gang turning on one person is unpleasant to watch. I would not say Sara is an underdog ... at the start of the show she was just as aggressive as the others (business is about "making money, making money and making even more money") but the way she is being victimised is horrible. It is natural to want to defend someone from being attacked. But I don't think any of the ideas of "fair play" exist ... it is just nationalist nonsense imo.

I have only seen a few series of the US version...for me in that incarnation, while people appeared much more vocally competitive, most of the "bitchiness" seemed focussed around performance....given the odd personality clash of course.

This years UK candidates seemed deluded in the assumption that "aggression" is THE attribute for business success. A few seem to be Katie Hopkins wannabees ... although fairly second rate examples I have to say....they've gone down the road of trying to win through sneaky "office politics" rather than approaching the tasks as opportunities to demonstrate their skills & expertise.