The Apprentice (UK series ten)

The Apprentice UK
 
 

Series Ten

Series Ten of The Apprentice (UK), a British reality television series, was broadcast in the UK during 2014 from 14 October to 21 December on BBC One; as both the FIFA World Cup and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow were taking place in Summer that year, the BBC chose to postpone the series' broadcast until the middle of Autumn to avoid clashing with live coverage of both sporting events.[1] It is the last series to feature Nick Hewer as Lord Sugar's aide, after he officially announced his decision to depart that year, with Series 8 winner, Ricky Martin, making an appearance as one of the interviewers for the Interviews stage of this series. To mark the tenth year of the programme, twenty candidates took part,[2] naming their teams Summit and Tenacity (the latter initially Decadence), with Mark Wright winning the series.

The series opened with two episodes aired on consecutive dates before following the show's usual scheduling, with the final episode aired a few days after the Interviews episode to avoid clashing with the BBC's Christmas schedule. In addition, three specials aired alongside the series; the first called "Ten Years of The Apprentice", which looked back over the previous nine years of the show, was shown on 13 October prior to the start of the series, while the remaining two specials aired during the series' final weeks, and were new editions of "The Final Five" on 16 December, and "Why I Fired Them" on 18 December.

Candidates

Candidate Background Age Result
Mark Wright Sales Manager – Digital Marketing 24 Winner
Bianca Miller Owner – Personal Branding Company 25 Runner-up
Daniel Lassman Director – Pub Quiz Company 27 Fired after Interviews stage
Roisin Hogan Accountant 32 Fired after Interviews stage
Solomon Akhtar Technology Entrepreneur 22 Fired after Interviews stage
Sanjay Sood-Smith Senior Manager – Banking 27 Fired after tenth task
Katie Bulmer-Cooke Fitness Entrepreneur 27 Fired after tenth task
Felipe Alviar-Baquero Lawyer 33 Fired after ninth task
James Hill Multiple Business Owner 26 Fired after eighth task
Lauren Riley Solicitor 28 Fired after seventh task
Pamela Uddin Assistant Brand Manager 23 Fired after sixth task
Jemma Bird Operations Manager 26 Fired after fifth task
Ella Jade Bitton Business Management Graduate 23 Fired after fourth task
Sarah Dales Former PA and Hypnotherapist 32 Fired after fourth task
Steven Ugoalah Social Worker 29 Fired after fourth task
Nurun Ahmed Marketing Officer and Fashion Retailer 36 Fired after third task
Lindsay Booth Owner – Swimming Academy 29 Fired after third task
Scott McCulloch Clinical Development Strategist 24 Fired after second task
Robert Goodwin Marketing Manager 25 Fired after second task
Chiles Cartwright Company Director 35 Fired after first task

Performance Chart

Task Number
Candidate 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Mark IN IN IN IN IN IN LOSE IN IN BR IN HIRED
Bianca IN IN IN IN BR IN WIN IN IN IN IN RUNNER-UP
Daniel IN BR IN IN WIN BR BR IN LOSE IN FIRED
Roisin IN IN LOSE IN IN IN IN BR IN WIN FIRED
Solomon IN BR IN WIN IN IN IN IN IN IN FIRED
Sanjay IN IN IN IN LOSE IN IN BR WIN FIRED
Katie IN IN WIN IN IN IN IN IN BR FIRED
Felipe LOSE IN IN IN IN IN IN WIN FIRED
James IN IN BR IN IN WIN IN FIRED
Lauren IN IN IN IN IN BR FIRED
Pamela IN IN IN IN IN FIRED
Jemma IN IN IN IN FIRED
Ella Jade IN IN IN FIRED
Sarah WIN IN IN FIRED
Steven IN IN IN FIRED
Nurun IN WIN FIRED
Lindsay IN IN FIRED
Scott IN FIRED
Robert BR FIRED
Chiles FIRED

Key:

     The candidate won this series of The Apprentice.
     The candidate was the runner-up.
     The candidate won as project manager on his/her team, for this task.
     The candidate lost as project manager on his/her team, for this task.
     The candidate was on the winning team for this task / they passed the Interviews stage.
     The candidate was on the losing team for this task.
     The candidate was brought to the final boardroom for this task.
     The candidate was fired in this task.
     The candidate lost as project manager for this task and was fired.

Episodes

Week 1: Ten Years of Selling

Week 2: Wearable Technology

Week 3: Home Fragrance

Week 4: Online Video Channel

Week 5: Coach Tours

Week 6: Board Game

Week 7: Advertising – New York

Week 8: Country Show

Week 9: Ten Years of Discount Buying

Week 10: Premium Pudding

Week 11: Interviews

Week 12: The Final

Criticism and controversy

Candidates

Inclusion of twenty candidates

While the decision to have 20 candidates for this series made it the highest number of participates in an incarnation of the show worldwide, it drew criticism from viewers who remarked that there was less room to get to know the candidates, some of whom remained in the competition for some time yet had almost no screen time at all. The decision also received complaints that this led away from the business aspect of the show, becoming more of a "reality" programme by inducing "shock firings".

Solomon Akhtar

Midway into the series, a friend of Solomon Akhtar alleged on Twitter, prior to the comment being deleted, that the candidate had made a sex tape with an ex-girlfriend of his. While Solomon admitted to the BBC that the revelation was true, he later denied this, claiming it was just a rumour.[10][11]

Solomon later alleged after his firing that he could never have been Lord Sugar's business partner, as he claimed him to be "boring" and having "no personality", and wanting to go into business with someone who was equally bland, while he also lashed out against Bianca Miller for have a "weird, boring" personality. In his interview with The Sun, Solomon stated:[12][13]

"Lord Sugar just wants somebody who is boring, who is going to do what he tells them to do and is not very risky. I think I was just too much fun. I want to make money having fun and having a personality in business, Lord Sugar doesn’t have a personality, he's just very bland. I think that's why me and Lord Sugar didn’t get on. So they [Bianca & Sugar] will literally love each other till the end of time, because they’re exactly the same.They both have this public facing image, that's corporate and really boring, they’ll get on really well."

James Hill

Following his appearance on the show, James Hill became embroiled in controversy when it emerged he had a criminal record; in 2008, he was convicted of assaulting two men, and received a six-month jail sentence, and was ordered to pay £500 compensation, and £775 in court fees.[14][15] He was also later revealed by The Sun to had been in a relationship with Lauren Rily during filming of the programme, which is against the rules set out by the production staff about such behaviour.[16]

Daniel Lassman

In a report detailing Daniel Lassman describing his fellow candidates as "a bunch of tossers", it was revealed that the former candidate had made the comments at bar in Essex, in which he spent almost £30,000, with the former candidate being pictured with a group of women while having his fiancée sit in his lap, pouring drinks down his throat. It was later claimed he spent the majority of his £200,000 wedding budget to purchase a Ferrari.[17][18]

Sanjay Sood-Smith & Pamela Uddin

Following his dismissal from the show, Sanjay Sood-Smith was reported to have received homophobic abuse during his time on the show, primarily on Twitter, and complained about "outdated attitudes" from other candidates regarding the matter. The former candidate, who is openly gay, was revealed to have been attacked at university for his sexuality, and had been forced to move schools as a result of bullying against him when he was eight years old, which included being nicknamed "Sad-Gay Sod Smith".[19][20][21]

In a similar manner, Pamela Uddin was reported to had suffered bullying as a child because of her Pakistani heritage and her stammar. Her mother, in an interview with the Sunday Mirror, revealed that the bullying began after she split from her Pakistani father during her toddler years and moved from Germany to Waterford, Ireland, adding that this caused Pamela to be unable to read until she was 12.[22]

Scott McCulloch

In October 2014, The Sun released an article in which an ex-classmate of Scott McCulloch, Richard Burns, reported that his life was turned into a "living hell" as a result of McCulloch bullying him at school, with incidents including verbal racist abuse. Burns claimed that two years of intimidation made him so terrified of being bullied, that he used to leave school to avoid being targeted, adding:[23]

"He turned on me. I was devastated. He used to call me ‘P***’ because of my dark skin. My dad's half Spanish. He would shout it at me every day for at least two years. I was about 14 or 15 by the time it had got really bad. He would kick the back of my chair and taunt me constantly. It was relentless and he made my life a living hell."

However, McCulloch denied the allegations of bullying made against him, including the accusations of him making racist remarks, by stating:

"I have never racially abused someone, either at school or later in life."

Results

Week Seven

Following the broadcast of the seventh episode, it was revealed that an energy drink in the United States already had the name "Big Dawg", raising questions about why James Hill and his team had been allowed to use it. The production staff acknowledged that they knew of this, but allowed to use it as there was no British trademark, and that the candidates couldn't have known that it already existed as they are prohibited from accessing the Internet while in the competition.[24]

Week Nine and Felipe Alvair-Baquero

Many fans of the show raised complaints over Lord Sugar's decision to revoke Tenacity's purchase of the paper-made skeleton, as they argued that it had technically fitted the task's briefing because there had been no proper specification made by him about what kind of skeleton the teams had to purchase, deeming his decision to unfair, and also being biased against Felipe Alvair-Baquero, the candidate who made the purchase. The scene received similar reactions from the participants of Channel 4's Gogglebox, a popular program which looked at the current week's popular television shows, who were just as negative about Sugar's decision.[25][26]

Ratings

Official episode viewing figures are from BARB.[27]

Episode
no.
Airdate Viewers
(millions)
BBC One
weekly ranking
1 14 October 2014 8.22 3
2 15 October 2014 7.50 6
3 22 October 2014 7.79 5
4 29 October 2014 7.63 5
5 5 November 2014 7.72 4
6 12 November 2014 7.80 6
7 19 November 2014 6.77 8
8 26 November 2014 7.04 7
9 3 December 2014 6.66 9
10 10 December 2014 7.31 4
11 17 December 2014 7.17 7
12 21 December 2014 7.22 6

Note: During the 2-hour final, the show was shared with The Apprentice: You're Hired, and as a result the figures are lower than expected. The first hour was the main show whereas the second hour was You're Hired. Original overnights for the final put the first hour at one million viewers more than the 2-hour average.[28]

Specials

Episode
no.
Airdate Viewers
(millions)
BBC One
weekly ranking
Ten Years of The Apprentice
13 October 2014 N/A N/A
The Final Five
16 December 2014 N/A N/A
Why I Fired Them
18 December 2014 N/A N/A

References

  1. Jefferies, Mark (29 October 2013). "The Apprentice: Next series pushed back until autumn 2014 to avoid clashing with World Cup 2014". Mirror Online. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  2. "A hypnotherapist, social worker and pub quiz director...Meet Lord Sugar's latest batch of Apprentice hopefuls". Mail Online. Associated Press. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  3. "The Apprentice SERIES 10 – 2. WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY". Radio Times. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  4. "The Apprentice SERIES 10 – 3. HOME FRAGRANCE". Radio Times. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  5. "BBC Two – The Apprentice: You're Fired, Series 10, Episode 10". BBC.
  6. "Katie Bulmer-Cooke – Fitness Trainer, Speaker & Consultant".
  7. "The Apprentice interviews: Margaret Mountford's out, Ricky Martin's in". Digital Spy.
  8. "BBC Two – The Apprentice: You're Fired, Series 10, Episode 11". BBC.
  9. "Bianca interview: Did Sugar get it wrong?". 23 December 2014.
  10. "New Apprentice storm as it emerges Solomon Akhtar made a sex tape". Daily Mail Online. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  11. "The Apprentice 2014: Is Solomon Akhtar's sex tape about to be leaked?". Metro. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  12. "Axed Apprentice star Solomon blasts 'boring' Lord Sugar". The Sun. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  13. Greenwood, Carl (17 December 2014). "The Apprentice's Solomon Akhtar hints he could join Made in Chelsea as he blasts Lord Sugar". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  14. "Apprentice 2014: Contestant James Hill outed as convicted criminal". The Independent. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  15. "THE APPRENTICE 2014: Derbyshire man James Hill has a criminal record". Derby Telegraph. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  16. "The Apprentice 2014: Lauren Riley reveals steamy fling with fellow hopeful James Hill". Metro. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  17. "Apprentice's Dan Lassman slams his fellow contestants at Essex nightclub 195". Daily Mail Online. 16 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  18. "Dan Lassman's fiancée fears big-spending Apprentice star will blow his entire fortune... as he splashes out on £130,000 Ferrari". Daily Mail Online. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  19. "Apprentice candidate gets homophobic abuse". Digital Spy. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  20. "The Apprentice candidate Sanjay Sood-Smith opens up about shocking". London Evening Standard. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  21. Tonks, Owen (11 December 2014). "The Apprentice star Sanjay Sood-Smith head-butted in horrific homophobic attack". Heat. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  22. Buxton, Olivia (1 November 2014). "Apprentice candidate Pamela Uddin's torment at hands of racist bullies". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  23. Katie Earlam and Krissy Storrar (20 October 2014). "Apprentice bully made my life hell". The Sun. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  24. "Apprentice collared for Big Dawg blunder: BBC left red-faced after dreaming up new energy drink... which already exists". Daily Mail Online. 22 November 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  25. "The Apprentice: We're really angry with Lord Sugar – are you?". Digital Spy. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  26. Emma Daly (3 December 2014). "The Apprentice: Was Lord Sugar right to disallow the flat pack skeleton?". Radio Times. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  27. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  28. "Twitter". UK TV Ratings.
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