It may be down to your particular style but is it necessary to always turn every post into an ad hominem attack on another forum member?

Anybody noticing anything consistent in this Alex fan? Every single post he makes is a slur on the FM he is replying to, followed by the put-down of Claire. He was doing exactly the same to Lucinda in another thread, but always sticking up for Alex. When it is clear to anybody who has watched the show from the beginning that Alex is clearly riding his luck, sucking up to whoever is his project manager, and hoping that his inability to actually achieve anything saves him from the firing line, rather than bothers trying to contribute towards the task. He has (slightly) improved since the wedding task - let's face it, his attitude, his sneering and face-pulling, his refusal to do absolutely anything during the earlier tasks, was painful to watch. Michael may have been a snivelly weed, but he did try to achieve something, even if that something was totally flawed beyond belief (the wedding cakes, the Ferrari, the Kosher chicken). Alex just puts his big coat on, turns his collar up, pushes his mouth to one side of his face or the other and hopes that nobody gives him anything to do. The Simon task ("Don't make me your assistant - I don't want it") was certainly his worst avoidance of actually having to do any work, but there have been many many more.

Claire carried him from task three onwards - if she hadn't been on his team he would have been fired long ago, because for some reason the poor girl took a fancy to him early on and decided he needed protecting. Since they have been split up he's got a new mate, Lee, and to give them credit, they have worked quite well together. But they have both bullied Lucinda for the past two weeks (who surprise surprise is another one that Vivid has a real problem with) and they will get caught out next week.

Vivid, FYI next week is the interview round. This is where each candidate is examined on their own, they have no bezzy mate to hide behind, they have to converse one to one with the interviewers. Alex struggles to string a sentence together, refuses to accept any responsibility for anything he says or does, lies (claiming the raffle ticket idea was his only five minutes after Lucinda suggested it and Lee agreed), and we all know that he doesn't reach the final anyway. I know you say that you don't really care one way or the other for Alex, but that is blatantly a lie. Along with the little girlies on here who fancy him with his scruffy hair and his unshaven face, you are far and away his biggest fan. So, it is admirable in some ways to see you defend his honour. Unfortunately, that honour disappeared early on in this series, and even though there has been a slight improvement in the past two weeks, anybody with any perception can quite clearly see that it is down to Lee carrying him. Once they are separated, and he has nobody to hold his hand, he's going to be out.

--- Cue Vivid rushing to his dictionary to come back with another set of words containing clueless, venomous, devoid, reality, perception and mindless to describe this post, and chav, rough, ignorant, fat, gormless, stupid and odious to describe Claire. And he'll probably chuck in the odd disruptive, argumentative, lazy and useless to describe Lucinda whilst he's at it ---

Vivid, the time has come. Your inability to see the blindingly obvious when it is laid before your eyes shows that you are a very weak and blinkered person, and your continual put-downs of everybody who can see you are deluded is becoming very, very tiresome. You aren't a team player, you're just an argumentative fool who thinks that typing the same way that Raef speaks makes you appear intellectual. It doesn't, it just makes you appear dull and stupid. You're Fired. Along with your little Manc friend. Maybe he'll let you borrow his big coat on the way home.

Maybe he doesn't need to borrow it.

I wish that Alex and Vivid were the same person, it would explain a lot, but I'm sure it's not the case. If it was the case, he would not keep promoting Alex and saying that Alex will wipe the floor with Lucinda and Claire - because we all know that that is not true. Vivid really thought that Raef and Sara were the two strongest contestants along with Alex - Alex would have known that neither of those two lasted the distance and so he wouldn't have suggested them if he was a forum member. In a week's time Alex will be fired - we all know this - and Alex himself already knows this, but Vivid seems to think he's going to stay the distance. So Alex and Vivid aren't the same person.

And, even though I think that Vivid in reality is a petulant spoilt childish person who has a stay-at-home-and-insult-people-to-make-yourself-feel-bigger-and-better personality, this doesn't fit with the image that Alex has shown on The Apprentice. Yes he is whiny and lazy, but he doesn't come across as even knowing what a dictionary is, never mind be able to quote from one, and if he really is a salesman then he wouldn't throw vitriol at every single person on this forum - a salesman tries to get people on their side by sucking up to them (like Alex has done with Claire, then with Lee), he doesn't alienate every single person he meets from himself by abusing and insulting them.

No, Vivid is more likely to be a socially inadequate person who struggles to make conversation with his fellow man as he is shy and awkward and incapable of having an intelligent conversation with people - that is why he must resort to put-downs and insults, as he only feels comfortable when he sees himself as intellectually superior to others. And Alex couldn't feel intellectually superior to anybody - just listen to him speak.

It's a great theory though...

Alex has scowled his way through The Apprentice. I find him surly and boorish. I hope he gets his come-uppance big time and soon.

And one which was offered very much tongue in cheek.

It's quite obvious that Vivid's flaws and Alex's are quite different.

I've not noticed Alex being spiteful and dogmatic.

And as you say, I think Alex and his dictionary have a rather difficult working relationship.

There should have been a double firing in the first week.

He's not improved as the weeks have gone on.

If only Nicholas Delacy Brown had been better at his boardroom defence, we may not have had to witness Alex's sulky mouth chewing petulance and inability to do very much more than blame others for his own ineptitude for the past nine weeks. And I'm sure Nicholas had so much untapped comic potential that we were never able to see.

I hope the clip shown for n/w where the interviewer said "this is the most boring cv I've ever seen" & cut to Alex who said "thank you" & cut to interviewer "you're welcome" will be the scene that is actually about Alex & not just the editing preview.

Alex really has a personality that matches his cv, not to mention a serial backstabber, stays in the background more than he steps upfront because he's lazy & irresponsible who can only do things with a collaborator & overall an irritating weasel.

For me Alex is one of the worst candidates ever on all series of the show. If he was on 1 & 3 I doubt he'll lasted this long.

I agree with you there, the likes of Saria and Paul in series one would have made mincemeat out of him....it would have been amusing to see actually!

Great post Dave, you put into words (far more eloquently than I could, - hope I've spelt that correctly otherwise I'll have Vivid on my tail !!!) just what I've been thinking about this poster.

Vivid, it's ok for you to have an opinion on one of the contestants, and you obviously fancy the pants off Alex, but so is it ok for all of us to have an opinion too. The difference is the rest of us don't pull each others posts to pieces with stupid put downs like you do. Or take a pop at each other for spelling mistakes (big deal !) Just get over yourself woman !! (I do have the distinct impression that Vivid is a woman ! I could be wrong)

There you go, is this devoid enough of content for you

No, he's a man. Which in many ways is even more worrying. His three most hated contestants have been Claire (mouthy, fat, boorish, Northern, holiday rep), Lucinda (pathetic, whiny, useless) and Lindi (he said she was ugly, which was a strange thing to say about her - I think he meant black), so I would guess that there's an element of what we all suspect creeping in here.

Vivid might be Alex's mum.

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Really, he's a man eh !!! well then, he comes across as extremely spiteful and yes, I see what you mean Say no more (taps nose !)

Let's just say he's a misogynist, rather than the word we all really want to say...

He is a complete and utter weasel for trying to claim the raffle ticket idea as his own, and he clearly wanted Lucinda to be the one selling on her own because he knew she'd be a lost lamb and that he'd have a scapegoat is his team failed. Sneaky little git, I hope the interviewers don't warm to him and tear him to shreds - he does not deserve to make the final.

I think that might be true! I have enjoyed reading this forum since the series started, but I have been reluctant to post on it since the first time I did I was shot down quite rudely by this FM. As we have seen from the differing management styles of the candidates, a more inclusive approach seems to get the best out of people in the tasks - perhaps it would be better if Vivid helped broaden discussion on the board by toning his style down a little (ok, a lot...), although I can't see it happening!

On topic, I have to say I agree with Mutley and the many others here who see Alex as a self-serving weasel! I wish I shared the belief of some here that he will be exposed in the interviews, but I think that the sad reality is that people like him often slip under the radar and do depressingly well...

Yeah I fear you might be right.. But we have a week to blindly hope otherwise though

The interview will be telling, but at the moment I think Lee, Claire and Alex have the advantage of not being in SAS's bad books, therefore unless they interview very badly, they are liable to be in the stronger position.

That said I still have faith we will see the smirk wiped off his face at some point....

BTW, please don't let a few idiotic posters put you off having your say....

If he does 'slip under the radar' it will show AS's 'tough and experienced' interviewers up as seriously lacking insight and people judging skills.

A lot of attacks on Alex here centre on treatment of Lucinda.

Now she may be excentic and can be very amusing but surely lacks an awful lot of the skill set that SAS seems to value.

I also think she is hugely manipulative in her own way as Nick has alluded to in the programme

Do they???

One poster kept dragging Lucinda in to attack, but I think most people are looking at Alex from an overall perepctive.

I don't agree with this.

It is Lee who has been criticised for his handling of Lucinda although it only seems to have become a problem since Alex joined the team.


There was and is great deal of manipulation going on from a lot of contestants.

Personally I'm hoping for a similar fate for Alex to that of Paul in series 2. He flew under the radar the whole series, was a much better sales person than Alex, more likeable (imo) and more involved in all his tasks.

But because he hadn't been in the boardroom and because he ballsed up his interviews he was fired.

Fingers crossed the same happens to Alex, I'd really enjoy watching him squirm in the interviews.....