The Apprentice (British TV series) series 9

Template:Infobox The Apprentice candidates Series Nine of The Apprentice (UK), a British reality television series, was broadcast in the UK during 2013 from 7 May to 17 July on BBC One. Like the seventh series, the first two episodes were aired a day apart from each other, the first again on a Tuesday, with subsequent episodes aired in the usual timeslot. The ninth series saw the show revert to the original task format it had used prior to the seventh series, including the "interview" stage being made as the penultimate task once again, and fired candidates returning to take part in the final task, but with the chosen finalists now having to promote their business idea in the final task before both Lord Alan Sugar and a selection of experts. The series was won by Leah Totton.

Two specials aired alongside the series towards the final weeks, and were new editions of "The Final Five" on 8 July, and "Why I Fired Them" on 11 July. Like the previous series, the final episode was merged with You're Hired to form a two-hour special on BBC One.

Candidates

Sixteen contestants took part in this series, and initially were divided by gender, as in every other series. The men chose Endeavour as their team name, and the women chose Evolve. Three candidates - Sophie, Uzma and Rebecca - never had the chance to be Project Manager.

See also: List of The Apprentice candidates (UK series nine)

Candidate	Background	Age	Original Team	Result
Leah Totton	Doctor	24	Evolve	Winner
Luisa Zissman	Retail Entrepreneur	25	Evolve	Runner-up
Francesca MacDuff-Varley	Dance & Entertainment Entrepreneur	32	Evolve	Fired in week 11
Neil Clough	Regional Manager - Soccer Centres	32	Endeavour	Fired in week 11
Jordan Poulton	Business Analyst	26	Endeavour	Fired in week 11
Myles Mordaunt	Marketing Agency Co-Founder	39	Endeavour	Fired in week 10
Alex Mills	Company Director	22	Endeavour	Fired in week 9
Jason Leech	Historian / Property Entrepreneur	29	Endeavour	Fired in week 8
Natalie Panayi	Recruitment Manager	30	Evolve	Fired in week 7
Kurt Wilson	Health Drink Entrepreneur and Health & Safety Manager	26	Endeavour	Fired in week 7
Rebecca Slater	Pharmaceutical Sales Rep.	35	Evolve	Fired in week 6
Zeeshaan Shah	CEO of Property Investment Company	27	Endeavour	Fired in week 5
Uzma Yakoob	Entrepreneur & Make-Up Brand Owner	32	Evolve	Fired in week 4
Sophie Lau	Restaurateur	22	Evolve	Fired in week 3
Tim Stillwell	Mexican Food Entrepreneur	23	Endeavour	Fired in week 2
Jaz Ampaw-Farr	Literacy & Education Company Director	41	Evolve	Fired in week 1

Weekly results

Elimination chart
Candidate	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Leah	IN	IN	IN	IN	BR	WIN	IN	IN	BR	IN	IN	HIRED
Luisa	IN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	BR	IN	LOSE	IN	WIN	IN	RUNNER-UP
Francesca	IN	BR	IN	IN	IN	LOSE	IN	BR	IN	IN	FIRED
Neil	IN	IN	IN	LOSE	IN	IN	WIN	IN	WIN	BR	FIRED
Jordan	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	BR	FIRED
Myles	IN	IN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	IN	BR	FIRED
Alex	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	BR	IN	FIRED
Jason	WIN	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	FIRED
Natalie	IN	IN	LOSE	IN	BR	IN	FIRED
Kurt	IN	WIN	IN	BR	IN	IN	FIRED
Rebecca	IN	BR	IN	IN	IN	FIRED
Zeeshaan	IN	IN	IN	IN	FIRED
Uzma	BR	IN	BR	FIRED
Sophie	BR	IN	FIRED
Tim	IN	FIRED
Jaz	FIRED

  The candidate was in the winning team; for Week 11, they managed to pass the interview stage.

  The candidate was in the losing team.

  The candidate became Lord Sugar's new business partner and won The Apprentice.

  The candidate was the runner-up.

  The candidate won as project manager on his/her team.

  The candidate lost as project manager on his/her team.

  The candidate was brought to the final boardroom.

  The candidate was fired.

  The candidate lost as project manager and was fired.

Episodes

Week 1: Container

• Air Date: 7 May 2013
• Endeavour: Jason (Project Manager), Alex, Jordan, Kurt, Myles, Neil, Tim, and Zeeshaan.
• Evolve: Jaz (Project Manager), Francesca, Leah, Luisa, Natalie, Rebecca, Sophie, and Uzma.
• Task: Choose a variety of imported goods from a container, then sell them within sixteen hours. Most sales made, wins.
• Task Review: Evolve suffered from a lack of organisation, as Jaz spent a lot of her time motivating rather than devising a sales strategy. Likewise on Endeavour, Jason struggled to make himself heard, resulting in Neil taking over a lot of the decision-making. They sold well, though Myles wasted an hour of time early on by promising to load one of their products with batteries. Despite a slow start, Endeavour quickly sold their items in reasonable quantities, though Neil's sub-team sold considerably more than Jason's. On Evolve, Leah's sub-team sold very well thanks to strong sales from Rebecca, Leah and Luisa, along with strong organisation from Uzma. They sold three times as much as Jaz's team, which descended into chaos; they arrived at London's Chinatown district far too early to find that none of the shops had opened, disorderly rushed around Oxford Street to find retailers, and wasted time trying to sell to a store clerk who was not even in a position to make the deal, costing Evolve the victory.
• Result: Endeavour made sales of £1,167.90, while Evolve made sales of £1,109.30.
• Winner: Endeavour - by £58.60
• Reward: Being the first to see the candidates' house, and having a luxury meal there as a team.
• Brought into the boardroom: Jaz, Sophie and Uzma
• Fired: Jaz - For inefficient team leadership, hasty volunteering to lead the team, and focusing too much on one item and neglecting other products as a result.
• You're Fired Panel: Jo Fairley, Matt Edmondson and Katherine Ryan
• Notes:
  • During his initial meeting with the candidates, Lord Sugar asked for the project managers on the spot. Jaz immediately volunteered herself for the women, and while Lord Sugar commended her for her bravery, he was unhappy that she did not consult her team or even think of the risks, whereas Jason had done so before moving forward. This was another occasion in which Lord Sugar sent the candidates on the first task before sending them to the house.
  • When Uzma's failure to sell anything was discussed, it was noted her role was logistics and scheduling on Leah's sub team, which Lord Sugar accepted as having prevented further disaster. Sophie was also called out for her sales, but as Natalie had hijacked her pitch of the Chinese lucky cats, Sophie escaped with a warning.
  • Despite Endeavour's victory, Karren touched upon their poor team dynamic and how no-one had stood out. While Neil sold the most and did a reasonably good job of leading his sub-team, he was judged to be at fault for arguments and repeatedly undermining Jason. Likewise, the majority of Endeavour criticised Jason for bad leadership, with Myles going as far to say that his sales approach was more "Vicar of Dibley" than market trader. Tim was accused of hiding, and when he attempted to defend himself after Endeavour's win was announced, Lord Sugar stopped him, saying further discussion was pointless.
  • This is the first occasion in the UK series that a female project manager was fired on the first task; Lord Sugar felt Jaz made far too many errors to continue, and her team considered her to have been too focused on motivation instead of strategy. Another factor that was her unhelpful focus on an item that had high profits, but was a hard-sell.
  • Karren attempted to defend Jason in the boardroom, as most of the men tried to steam-roll each other rather than work together. When Alex attempted to stand up for Neil against Jordan's criticisms, he mistakenly called him Liam.
  • During the boardroom, Leah's sub-team (specifically Luisa), felt Leah ultimately took on the role of project manager. Leah's sub-team managed to sell the majority of their products, leaving only a few unsold. Jaz's team, in contrast, left multiple items and products unsold (though when they were sold it was for a very cheap price), which turned out to be a major factor of Jaz's firing.
  • During the task a major argument broke out in one of the cars between Zeeshaan and Neil with Tim in between them. Zeeshaan wanted to talk to Jason on the phone and had been telling Neil to give the phone to him seven times but Neil hung up with Tim trying to stop the argument to no avail. In the end Neil told Zeeshaan to ring Jason's sub team back.

Week 2: Beer

• Air Date: 8 May 2013
• Endeavour: Kurt (Project Manager), Alex, Jason, Jordan, Myles, Neil and Zeeshaan.
• Evolve: Tim (Project Manager), Francesca, Leah, Luisa, Natalie, Rebecca, Sophie and Uzma.
• Task: Come up with a new flavour of beer and sell it. Most profit made, wins.
• Task Review: Endeavour created a chocolate orange flavoured beer, while Evolve created a rhubarb and caramel flavoured beer. Things generally went smoothly during Endeavour's production process, despite Kurt sending out a brewery team of three men who did not even drink beer and deciding on the branding before the team had decided on the flavour. Meanwhile, Evolve wasted a small sum of money after Francesca twice miscalculated the amount of rhubarb flavouring needed, rendering two kegs undrinkable. Despite the mishap, Evolve's trade sales team performed very well, selling in large quantities. On the other hand, Endeavour made a foolish decision to bring no samples to their first pitch, which led to an embarrassing failure. Later on, Jason (who Alex and Zeeshaan tried to shut out of the deals) disrupted one of their pitches and bizarrely offered a lower price than even what the customer had suggested. The other sub-teams pitched at food and drink festivals, but Evolve's festival turned out to be nothing more than a glamorised pub. They attempted to sell their beer at a wine bar later, but this yielded even fewer sales. Endeavour's festival, on the other hand, had much bigger footfall and while their sales were initially slow due to high prices, slashing them improved trade greatly.
• Result: Endeavour made a profit of £831.56, while Evolve made a profit of £399.02.
• Winner: Endeavour - by £432.54
• Reward: A trip to Belgium with beer tasting.
• Brought into the boardroom: Tim, Francesca and Rebecca
• Fired: Tim - For his weak leadership, authorising a bad location, and for failing on a task his business plan was related to.
• You're Fired Panel: Ed Byrne, Sara Cox and James Watt
• Notes:
  • During the task briefing, Lord Sugar moved Tim to Evolve and appointed him as project manager after he vouched to step up in the previous boardroom, as well as wanting to set up a drinks-based business. Sugar then appointed Kurt as Endeavour's project manager, as he already worked in the food and drink industry.
  • Despite the healthy margin of Endeavour's victory, Lord Sugar found a variety of faults regarding Kurt's leadership, including his poor decision of the brewery team consisting of members who did not drink beer, the specific flavour (including an ingredient which the brewery team strongly disliked), his choice of brand name before the sub-team had even arrived at the brewery, and his irregular pricing, which was felt to be too high at their initial festival and too low when they moved on.
  • Lord Sugar seriously considered firing Rebecca for playing a pivotal role in picking the poor location and her attitude in the boardroom, where she sparked an argument with Uzma and then claimed that the other women were all conspiring against her. However, it was ultimately revealed that Rebecca single-handedly brought in around 40% of Evolve's revenue, which proved instrumental in her survival.
  • Tim received an enthusiastic response from the audience of You're Fired. The feedback from his fellow contestants revealed that the females on Evolve enjoyed working with him, and Lord Sugar himself had praise for Tim's enthusiasm, though he remarked that he needed to "channel it in the right direction".
  • The majority of the You're Fired audience, combined with the panel, disagreed with Lord Sugar's decision to fire Tim. While it was noted that Francesca's mathematical mistake did not cause Evolve to lose, the panel agreed that it was such a basic mistake that it should have been grounds for instant dismissal.

Week 3: Flat-Pack

• Air Date: 15 May 2013
• Endeavour: Jordan (Project Manager), Alex, Jason, Kurt, Myles, Neil and Zeeshaan.
• Evolve: Natalie (Project Manager), Francesca, Leah, Luisa, Rebecca, Sophie and Uzma.
• Task: Design a new unique piece of flat-pack furniture, and pitch it to retailers. Most orders received, wins.
• Task Review: Endeavour went with Alex's idea to create a chair that could easily convert into a table with storage shelves. On Evolve, Francesca suggested a cube-shaped table with multi-functional sides, but because Natalie attempted to listen to everyone's ideas, no consensus was reached on what each side would feature. Their prototype was criticised for being just a box on wheels that could be assembled easily without any tools or glue and could also double up as a table or footrest. Although Evolve generally had well-executed pitches, their box was still felt to be unoriginal and unattractive, so it only secured small orders from all independent retailers. Endeavour's chair was considered to be much more innovative, and though they were a number of mistakes in pitches, and questions over the styling and the height of its legs, these flaws were not considered insurmountable for a prototype and the team secured vastly greater orders.
• Result: Endeavour received 3,216 orders, while Evolve received 174 orders.
• Winner: Endeavour - by 3,042 orders
• Reward: Up at The O2 - Climb attraction at The O2 Arena.
• Brought into the boardroom: Natalie, Sophie and Uzma
• Fired: Sophie - For a lack of presence, making no significant contributions within the three tasks, and for showing no skills Lord Sugar considered vital for starting a business.
• You're Fired Panel: Andy Parsons, Karren Brady and Richard North
• Notes:
  • While the teams had to set up appointments themselves, Lord Sugar also laid on pitches with a catalogue chain and a department store. In addition, Evolve were warned to improve their performance in the task briefing, and Lord Sugar was especially disappointed that the women had suffered such a massive defeat in this task as well. Both of the major retailers reported that Evolve's pitches were excellent, but the product itself was panned, resulting in neither placing an order; Endeavour therefore won on sales to independent retailers alone, with 216 orders to Evolve's 174.
  • Endeavour's mistakes in pitches included Alex spending most of his assembly demo facing away from the buyers, Myles aiming the product at the wrong age market and Zeeshaan failing to sell at all, prompting Jordan to pull him from one of the pitches. Despite his gaffe, Alex was given much credit for the product, which Lord Sugar said was one of the best he had ever seen designed on the show.
  • It was noted in Why I Fired Them that Sophie had arguably sealed by giving a list of skills that were not her specialty in the final boardroom, including designing, selling and giving presentations, all of which Lord Sugar considered essential for a new business. Her only major contribution was market research which, as there was no still consensus on the product, achieved nothing.
  • Lord Sugar noted his choice to be a very close decision, as he held Natalie at fault for being a weak leader and allowing Luisa to take over the task, and Uzma for being considerably out of touch with her design expertise and refusing to take any responsibility. They survived because they had both at least tried to step up whereas Sophie did not, though Lord Sugar warned them he would be paying particular attention to their future efforts.
  • The You're Fired! audience combined with two of the panelists agreed that while Natalie and Uzma made major errors, Sophie was just as deserving to be fired for showing no vital business skills. Andy Parsons however felt that Sophie was unlucky and felt that Natalie should have been fired for showing no leadership.

Week 4: Farm Shop

• Air Date: 22 May 2013
• Endeavour: Neil (Project Manager), Alex, Kurt, Natalie, Uzma and Zeeshaan.
• Evolve: Luisa (Project Manager), Francesca, Jason, Jordan, Leah, Myles and Rebecca.
• Task: Open a farm shop, source stock for it and sell it to the public. Most profit made, wins.
• Task Review: Evolve decided to sell a range of buffalo meat products, fresh soup and jacket potatoes, though their choice to sell buffalo was seen as risky. On Endeavour, Kurt persuaded Neil to have their shop exclusively sell milkshakes while having a small side line of fruit and vegetables. Most of Evolve found Luisa to be a poor leader after she strictly monitored the budget, but support from Leah and Jordan meant she overruled any criticism. On the other hand, Endeavour were extremely disorganised for some time after they opened; even though they enjoyed strong early sales of their milkshakes, Uzma's selling tactics frustrated Neil, and Jason irritated his team-mates even though he was in the kitchen. Both teams miserably failed to meet their target quotas, but it was Evolve's high ticket items that led them to having a higher total.
• Result: Endeavour made a profit of £539.67, while Evolve made a profit of £631.52.
• Winner: Evolve - by £91.85
• Reward: Being taught how to cook by a top chef.
• Brought into the boardroom: Neil, Kurt and Uzma
• Fired: Uzma - For being a weak performer throughout the process, her questionable selling tactics, refusing to take responsibility for the loss, attempting to shift the entire blame to Neil, appearing in the boardroom three times in four tasks, and giving Lord Sugar a poor impression.
• You're Fired Panel: Rick Stein and Josh Widdicombe
• Notes:
  • Lord Sugar deliberately shuffled the teams to end the women's losing streak by moving Natalie and Uzma over to Endeavour, and moving Jason, Jordan and Myles over to Evolve.
  • Partway through the task, Kurt decided to buy some apple juice from a local store and combine it with their fruit to produce smoothies. While it proved profitable, Lord Sugar criticised it as not being in the spirit of the task.
  • Despite Evolve's victory, Luisa's management was seen as poor since she left Francesca, Jason and Myles little say in purchasing, and then bluntly told them they were only allowed to buy vegetables to dress the shop. Luisa ended up shouting over the phone, irritating Francesca to the point she abandoned the discussion. In the boardroom, Myles heavily criticised Luisa's leadership, and although Lord Sugar commended her for sticking with her sales plan, he told her that her sales team were probably more deserving of credit. Jordan was also chided by Lord Sugar for being overtly celebratory when their victory was announced.
  • After Uzma was brought back to the boardroom for the third time in four weeks, she insisted that it was a tactical move on Neil's part, but he strongly denied this, stating if he was being explicitly tactical, he would have chosen Natalie instead of Kurt. While Uzma's selling tactics were questionable, she was revealed to be the second highest seller on the team, though it was not enough to overshadow her consistently poor performances.
  • Lord Sugar gave Neil strict criticism over his attitude stating that "there's a fine line between being confident and cocky", since he had barely tried to listen to Uzma during the task, and allowed Kurt to push his idea through without a backup plan. Kurt was also warned that he was lucky to have survived, as Lord Sugar considered him to be at near-total fault for his idea to exclusively sell milkshakes and boasting that he could sell 200, which would have made £650 and given Endeavour victory. He survived due to the fact that he had at least made a good impression on Lord Sugar, whilst Uzma had not.

Week 5: Dubai

• Air Date: 28 May 2013
• Endeavour: Zeeshaan (Project Manager), Alex, Leah, Kurt, Natalie and Neil.
• Evolve: Myles (Project Manager), Francesca, Jason, Jordan, Luisa and Rebecca.
• Task: Find and secure eight items for a new multimillion-pound hotel in Dubai, negotiating for lower prices. Least amount spent (fines included), wins.
• Task Review: Myles took a methodical approach for Evolve, and tried to research locations, while Zeeshaan decided to rely on his existing knowledge of the city, even telling Endeavour not to use maps; this began the first of several clashes between himself and Leah. Both teams suffered trouble buying a custom-made 6 ft flag; Myles's sub-team wasted over an hour sitting around waiting for their flag to be made, while Kurt ordered a flag that was too small (thinking that there were 12 cm in a foot instead of 12in) for Endeavour, forcing them to order another and pay for both. Myles rushed a lot of his deals through without much negotiating, though he collected most of the items he was assigned. Endeavour got far better discounts, but Zeeshaan misinformed his team as to what an oud was, causing them to waste time. Neil also ended up buying a kandura which did not meet the specifications, and was then discarded from Endeavour's final total. In the end, Evolve got six of the items needed, while Endeavour only got four, leading both teams to be fined for the missing ones.
• Result: Endeavour spent £783.36 (including fines), while Evolve spent £695.16 (including fines).
• Winner: Evolve - by £88.20.
• Reward: Drinks at a modern cocktail bar.
• Brought into the boardroom: Zeeshaan, Leah and Natalie
• Fired: Zeeshaan - For his arrogance, dictatorial leadership, failing on a task where he was most the qualified candidate to lead out of both of the teams, and for bringing Leah and Natalie back into the boardroom mostly for personal reasons instead of Kurt and/or Neil.
• You're Fired Panel: Lara Morgan, Miles Jupp and Nicki Chapman
• Notes:
  • To even out the teams, Leah was moved to Endeavour and both Myles and Zeeshaan were elected as leaders of their respective teams, owing to their knowledge of the city of Dubai, with Zeeshaan having lived and even sold there for years.
  • Halfway through the task, Zeeshaan informed his team that an oud was a perfume, ignoring the briefing specifications of mahogany. When the team briefed a local seller about what an oud was, they reported this to Zeeshaan, who still insisted that he was right. In the boardroom, however, he almost instantly said that it "turned out to be wrong"
  • Lord Sugar was confused by Zeeshaan's boardroom choices, as Kurt and Neil had made critical errors that accelerated the team into failure. It was he had only chosen Leah because she had questioned his decisions throughout the task, and he had hoped to drag up criticism of Natalie's contribution again. The latter choice backfired due to his own performance. Though it was acknowledged she did not deserve to be there, Natalie only survived because of her passionate defense, escaping with a final warning.
  • In the final boardroom, both Leah and Natalie accused Zeeshaan of being sexist, claiming that he had mistreated them throughout the task and brought them back into the final boardroom for no reason other than the fact that they were women, citing Neil and Kurt's errors; both of the men thought they had had a lucky escape. Zeeshaan did not help his case by giving poor excuses for letting Kurt and Neil go and not holding the door for the women when coming back for the final boardroom. In the broadroom Leah relayed the fact that despite her being sub-team leader, Zeeshaan had always wanted to talk to Neil on the phone. After the firing, neither Leah or Natalie shook Zeeshan's hand or even spoke to him.
  • In this week's episode of You're Fired! Neil and Kurt were given the dubious honour of both being named "The One who Got Away", a rare occurrence in the show's history. It was implied Lord Sugar might have fired either one over Zeeshaan.

Week 6: Away Day

• Air Date: 5 June 2013
• Endeavour: Leah (Project Manager), Alex, Kurt, Myles, Natalie and Neil.
• Evolve: Francesca (Project Manager), Jason, Jordan, Luisa and Rebecca.
• Task: Organise corporate away days for two major clients. Most profit made, wins.
• Task Review: Evolve went for a "Back to School" theme, and although their event ran reasonably smoothly, they had activities that had little to do with school or business, including wine tasting and cupcake decorating, leaving many people confused. They also hired a motivational speaker after being pressed by Rebecca, who was effective, but cost a considerable amount. The majority of Endeavour also wanted a school theme, but Leah went against them for a history theme, only to change to an army theme after meeting with the client, causing Alex to be continually disrespectful to Leah. Their planning and preparation was disorganized due to repeated questioning of Leah's choices, and they were late meeting their client due to hectic planning and heavy traffic. There was often a lack of structure in Endeavour's event due to the rain, which at one point forced them indoors while having Neil and Myles wrestle in sumo suits, which they were chided for in the boardroom. They did, however, have many army related activities, where Neil and Myles spoke individually to each worker, which proved effective, and Neil's role as a motivational speaker was praised. Although both clients demanded partial refunds, Evolve's uncontrolled spending caused them to lose out.
• Result: Endeavour made a profit of £1,579.50, while Evolve made a profit of £1,095.81.
• Winner: Endeavour - by £483.69
• Reward: A day at a luxury spa
• Brought into the boardroom: Francesca, Luisa and Rebecca
• Fired: Rebecca - For suggesting poorly executed ideas that cost Evolve the win (such as paying for a motivational speaker), giving a lacklustre defence in the boardroom, and for having no standout skills other than sales.
• You're Fired Panel: Russell Kane and Archie Archer
• Notes:
  • Both Francesca and Leah were appointed by Lord Sugar as project managers. Both teams were noted to have slightly ignored his point about the business focus of the task. Though Lord Sugar said in the task briefing that the winner would be decided via a combination of the profit and customer feedback, the final decision was based solely on profits, as the satisfaction ratings for both teams were virtually identical.
  • Both project managers were criticised heavily by their teams; Francesca was indecisive, going along with bad ideas and using "empty words", and Leah overruled the team on the theme choice, then changed it at the last minute, meaning one event the sub-team had hired was now unsuitable. Lord Sugar did sympathise with her after learning that Alex and Neil had practically bullied her into certain decisions. However, Neil was firmly praised for his interaction with clients, with Karren stating that they were very impressed with him.
  • Jason was criticised by Nick for doing very little in the task and was subsequently called out in the boardroom for hiding, being warend to step up.
  • In Series 10 of the show, Neil commented on You're Hired that he had since become a professional motivational speaker because of his success on this task.
  • Lord Sugar was annoyed when Francesca ignored his warnings about personal feelings and brought back Luisa. Jordan, who had been put in charge of the finances and then failed to rein in the overspend, therefore had a lucky escape. Lord Sugar then changed his mind when Luisa demonstrated a disrespectful short-tempered attitude in her remarks about Francesca and the corporate world, to the point where Karren scolded her for immaturity. She only survived due to her passion and the fact Lord Sugar considered her the least responsible for the failure.
  • The majority of the You're Fired audience disagreed with Lord Sugar's decision to fire Rebecca. The group felt Rebecca should have been a given a chance as project manager, and that Francesca was most deserving to be fired.
  • This task was the only time Natalie was on the winning team.

Week 7: Caravan

• Air Date: 12 June 2013
• Endeavour: Kurt (Project Manager), Alex, Leah, Myles and Natalie.
• Evolve: Neil (Project Manager), Francesca, Jason, Jordan and Luisa.
• Task: Sell products, including motorhomes, at the Motorhome & Caravan Show at the Birmingham NEC. Most sales made, wins.
• Task Review: Endeavour lost out on two products that they wanted to sell to Evolve, and found themselves with a roof-top boat box and a foldable chair with a hood, while Kurt and Alex chose to sell a retro-styled camper, even though the demographic of the show was wrong. On Evolve, Neil was noted to be keen on the retro camper as well, but took the age demographic into account, instead choosing a collapsible camper alongside an electric bike and a children's camping kit. On the day of the show, sales started slow due to the high prices, but Evolve's bike and camping kits proved sensible choices, despite not selling nearly as well as expected; Luisa sold noticeably more than Jordan due to being popular with customers. Jason proved to be very popular on the camper front, gaining the first two of the team's three camper sales. Endeavour sold considerably less well with their products and sold no caravans as all customers agreed the retro camper was far too modern.
• Result: Evolve had sales of £33,616, while Endeavour had sales of £1,479.
• Winner: Evolve - by £32,137
• Reward: To visit the Manchester Velodrome and meet Sir Chris Hoy
• Brought into the boardroom: Kurt, Alex and Natalie
• Fired:
  • Kurt - For his awful leadership, picking an unsuitable caravan due to personal opinion, not selling a single item, taking no responsibility for the loss, not bringing Myles back into the boardroom, previous task-failing blunders (most notably in Tasks Four and Five), and for being Project Manager for one of the worst defeats in the show's history.
  • Natalie - For losing out on the popular products, failing to achieve a CV claim on selling, failing to deliver on her promises, and for her generally unimpressive track record throughout the process.
• You're Fired Panel: Phil Daniels, Jenny Eclair and Claude Littner
• Notes:
  • Endeavour's failure to secure the more popular products came down to a mixture of Myles' overzealous pitching, Leah's lack thereof, and Natalie's aggressive pursuit of a discount, the latter of which both ladies later denied.
  • Evolve won the task on sales of accessories alone, which made £3,116. In terms of difference, this is the third biggest victory in the UK series of the Apprentice (a 22.7:1 ratio), with Lord Sugar describing Endeavour's performance as "a bloody disgrace."
  • In the task briefing, Lord Sugar sternly told the candidates that they all had to sell, singling out Jason in particular. Having sold more than anyone else, Jason was called back by Lord Sugar to be personally congratulated after the rest of Evolve had left the boardroom.
  • Lord Sugar wondered why Alex did not put himself forward as Project Manager, as he had been the only candidate not to take on the role. While Alex had done so, Kurt won support because he had holidayed in a caravan. Even though it had been discussed that the retro-styled camper was not suitable, Alex rejected this claim and blamed the team for not being able to sell it. Despite then facing criticism for letting personal opinion cloud his judgement, he was given another chance.
  • It was noted by Nick that Leah was the best salesperson on Endeavour, as well the closest to selling one of her team's caravans; the deal fell through for undisclosed reasons. Nick also informed Leah that Kurt brought her over to sell caravans at the last minute having said she was "eye-candy", for which he was castigated in the boardroom.
  • After being brought back, Natalie accused Kurt of choosing her for tactical reasons, but Kurt denied this by pointing to the fact that she had sold the least on the sub team and had been partly responsible for the loss of their preferred accessories. While Lord Sugar acknowledged Kurt might well have been playing tactics, he decided that Natalie had had more than enough opportunities, and failed to deliver on any of her promises. He was also been bewildered by her claims she would have been the best person to sell caravans because of her background in recruitment.
  • Kurt was the only candidate this series not to thank Lord Sugar after being fired.
  • While the majority of the audience of You're Fired! agreed with the decision to fire Kurt it was more mixed for Natalie.The panel however unanimously agreed with both firings albeit with reluctance; Jenny Eclair agreed with Kurt's firing but soon apologized while Claude Littner, when asked about Natalie's firing, said "Reluctantly, yes."

Week 8: Online Dating

• Air Date: 19 June 2013
• Endeavour: Jordan (Project Manager), Alex, Leah and Myles.
• Evolve: Luisa (Project Manager), Jason, Francesca and Neil.
• Task: Come up with a new online dating concept with a television advert, and then pitch it to a group of experts. Best concept made, wins.
• Task Review: Evolve went with a pitch aimed at the Over-50's market, whilst Endeavour went for a theme aimed at young businessmen. Evolve quickly descended into chaos after Luisa repeatedly criticised the market, while Neil and Francesca led poor market research which set the team to create something aimed more at the 80's market. Luisa's deplorable attitude compounded Jason's indecisiveness, causing the team to not finish their website. Following the heated turn of events on Evolve, Luisa gained Neil and Francesca's support to take over the task as project manager from Jason at his behest. Evolve then created a very poor advert that the experts felt was targeted at the wrong age group. Endeavour fared much better, completing a corporate-themed website that was finished timely, albeit a bit bland, while the advert (starring Alex) was better received, yet criticised for the comedic tone that did not fit with their professional website design. In the end, Lord Sugar awarded Endeavour the win, as their mistakes were nowhere near as bad as the problems with Evolve.
• Winner: Endeavour - for creating a concept with fewer mistakes.
• Reward: A caviar tasting session.
• Brought into the boardroom: Jason, Luisa and Francesca
• Fired: Jason, with regret - For abdicating his duty as Project Manager, especially on a task where he was more than qualified to lead, failing to stand up to Luisa's bullying, and for being unable to cope in the world of business due to his sensitive personality.
• You're Fired Panel: Mark Watson, Marian Keyes and Dave Buonaguidi
• Notes:
  • To even out the teams, Jordan was moved to Endeavour and the team backed him to be project manager, but Lord Sugar wondered once again why Alex was not, especially considering his experience with dating websites. Leah and Myles both cited Jordan's technology background as more suitable, but Lord Sugar became concerned that they were too scared to let Alex lead. At this point, Alex achieved the all-time record of surviving longest into The Apprentice without being project manager.
  • In Why I Fired Them, Lord Sugar noted that under normal circumstances, Endeavour would have lost based on the humorous advert being completely incoherent with the corporate website. However, due to the disaster within Evolve, Lord Sugar felt he had no choice but to give Endeavour "the benefit of the doubt". In addition, Lord Sugar and Karren noted Jordan's tendency to be more of a "delegator" than a project manager and it was heavily indicated, had Endeavour lost, Jordan would have most likely been fired.
  • On returning to the boardroom, Luisa attempted to pin the blame of not completing the website solely on Jason, denying that she practically forced him to abdicate. Neil defended Jason, while Francesca attempted to back up Luisa and accused Jason of extreme incompetence. Nick interjected and lambasted Luisa, describing the exchange as "the most disgraceful display of bad manners I've seen in many a long day".
  • For the first time in the show's history, a project manager stepped down mid-task and was replaced. Consequently, both Jason and Luisa were asked who should be brought back. Jason chose Francesca, but Luisa wanted Neil. Francesca then took offence to Jason's criticisms and demanded to be brought back, strongly implying an intention to help Luisa gang up on Jason. It was implied anyway that Neil would've been in no serious danger of being fired had he been brought back.
  • After Jason's dismissal, Lord Sugar gave both women a severe warning - Luisa due to her atrocious behavior, and Francesca due to her poor advert and market research, refusing to take criticism, and failing to say anything in her defense having solely attacking Jason. Luisa in particular was told she was on her absolute last chance, and it was heavily indicated that she would have been fired had Jason not abdicated.
  • It was generally agreed by both Lord Sugar and the remaining candidates that although Jason was a "very nice fellow", his departure came at the right time.
  • After both women left the boardroom, Karren requested to follow Luisa's team in the following task, as she was so concerned by her behavior she wanted to decide whether she was capable of working with Lord Sugar.
  • As Jason was fired, a different version of the background music was played with solely strings.
  • The majority of the You're Fired audience disagreed with Lord Sugar's decision to fire Jason, though the panel and Jason himself felt he deserved to be fired. During the vote Jason mouthed "Yes" continuously when the panel were asked to vote and when the audience were asked he also mouthed "Red!". After he was asked how he felt after the firing Jason also replied that he was "relieved." that he was fired.
  • As with Tim from Week 2, when Jason was introduced on You're Fired he received a very enthusiastic response. In his case it was to the point that he said "If they carry on anymore, I'll have to hide under the table"

Week 9: Ready Meal

• Air Date: 26 June 2013
• Endeavour: Alex (Project Manager), Jordan, Leah and Myles.
• Evolve: Neil (Project Manager), Francesca and Luisa.
• Task: Create a new brand of ready meal. Most orders received, wins.
• Task Review: Endeavour's idea (created by Myles) was a brand called "Deadly Dinners", which was aimed at children and featured scary imagery on its box; despite the poor reception by his team and the market research, Myles convinced Alex into going for it anyway. Elsewhere, Evolve created a line of Caribbean/Asian fusion cuisine meals called "Oh My Pow", which was aimed at adults. "Deadly Dinners" was judged to be of good taste by the focus group of children, but the horror themed packaging turned off parents. Conversely, "Oh My Pow" was felt to have an appealing concept and colourful branding, but tasted too bland. This was attributed to the team's bizarre decision to put Francesca in charge of the recipe, despite her having no professional cooking experience. In the end, Endeavour secured orders, but only from one retailer, while Evolve got combined orders from two other retailers.
• Result: Endeavour received 1,000 orders, while Evolve received 2,800 orders.
• Winner: Evolve - by 1,800 orders.
• Reward: Driving Ferraris at Bedford Autodrome
• Brought into the boardroom: Alex, Leah and Myles
• Fired: Alex, with regret - For allowing Myles to convince him on the less popular concept and attempting to place the blame solely on him as a result, taking bad gambles, waiting too long to be Project Manager, and for lacking the necessary expertise and focus in his prior career to make his business plan a reality.
• You're Fired Panel: Charlie Bigham and Fred MacAulay
• Notes:
  • After being shot down twice to become Project Manager, Alex was appointed by Lord Sugar after eight tasks, whereas some candidates had done so twice (or even three times). His leadership was criticised due to the brand; Alex's original idea of a ready meal involving exotic cuisine from around the world, teaching children about geography, was considered a much better idea by Jordan and Leah and amongst market research. Despite this, Alex chose to adopt Myles' idea, feeling that Myles' experience as a parent was more valuable.
  • Luisa was seen as a back-seat driver as she "shied away" from the responsibility of project manager even though she ran a baking business. She was felt to have attempted to do little after being heavily criticised the week before, with Karren feeling that Luisa was trying to set up Francesca as a scapegoat in case the team lost. Nevertheless, Karren deemed her to be the best performer on Evolve for her strong branding design, which proved to be a key role in their victory.
  • Alex asked if he could bring Myles back in the boardroom alone, saying that neither Jordan or Leah were responsible for the loss, but Lord Sugar refused. Alex decided to send Jordan back to the house as his pitch secured the one deal the team had made, but it was implied early on anyway that Leah would not be fired.
  • In the final boardroom, Lord Sugar asked Leah what she had brought to the table during the past nine weeks. An offended Leah then argued that she was a key performer in most tasks, even on occasions in which her team was not successful. She then laid siege to her teammates in the boardroom, lambasting Alex's leadership and business direction, while slamming Myles for his lack of input and being "all style and no substance". While Lord Sugar was unhappy with Leah's overt aggression since she was not even in any serious danger, he was impressed with her passionate defense.
  • Even though Alex himself felt he deserved to be fired, the majority of the You're Fired audience, combined with the panel, disagreed with Lord Sugar's decision, with the general consensus being that Myles should have been fired for the bad branding idea. Lord Sugar himself acknowledged that most people would think that Myles "got away with murder", but decided that he had more potential as a business partner. He and Leah still were warned to step up in the next task, as any room for leniency was now gone.

Week 10: Stall-to-Shop

• Air Date: 3 July 2013
• Endeavour: Myles (Project Manager), Jordan and Neil.
• Evolve: Luisa (Project Manager), Francesca and Leah.
• Task: Start a business from scratch with a stake of £150, selling at a market on the first day and a shop on the second, reinvesting profit in good sellers. Most money made, wins.
• Task Review: Evolve's execution of the task was virtually flawless, with Luisa having a clear strategy throughout; the team focused on fashion accessories and enjoyed strong sales figures on both days. Although they cut prices too early on the second day and invested in expensive dresses that did not sell, their overall strategy was successful, and Lord Sugar commended them for "smelling what sells". Meanwhile, Myles proved a very weak leader on Endeavour, whom struggled to think of what to sell, and then sold little during the first day. Their situation became even more dire after the ceramic art pieces they tried to sell were incredibly niche and very expensive, though when they did sell they earned much profit. It was also noted, however, that the men had around twenty items in their shop in total, and as a result had to make a stall outside of it. Neil was the only one of the men to sell significant quantities during the first day, while Myles did little and Jordan was mostly tied up buying stock and selling to retailers. With matters not improving on the second day in the shop, Jordan took a risky move by investing what little profit they had made into the purchase of a unique hand-made designer vase, hoping to sell it for a substantial profit, but he failed to sell it.
• Result: Endeavour had a final total of £550.26, while Evolve had a final total of £809.50.
• Winner: Evolve - by £259.24
• Reward: Meal cooked by a Michelin-starred chef.
• Brought into the boardroom: Myles, Jordan and Neil
• Fired: Myles - For his very poor and indecisive leadership, using a bad theme, allowing Jordan's mistake to reinvest, his ready meal blunder from the previous week and because Lord Sugar could not find an appealing market for his business proposal.
• You're Fired Panel: Ade Adepitan and Hugh Dennis
• Notes:
  • Lord Sugar moved Neil to Endeavour and Leah to Evolve to ensure the teams were separate by gender.
  • While the margin of Endeavour's defeat was much smaller than three weeks ago, Lord Sugar named this performance as the worst of any team in this series. Neil was the only team member who Lord Sugar or Karren felt had even vaguely performed well on the task. Karren had particular criticism for Jordan, feeling he was taking no responsibility for his actions and was constantly blaming Myles for the failure of the task, even though his own efforts had contributed very little to the team's profit. Despite, in a clip shown on You're Fired!, Neil commented his surprise by Myles' indecisiveness despite his winning streak in the first six tasks.
  • Luisa was praised during the task, as although Lord Sugar and Nick had doubts about her, she ultimately proved that she had good business knowledge.
  • In the final boardroom, Lord Sugar briefly queried the three men on their business plans, and seemed concerned that Jordan's proposal was not in keeping with the deal offered at the start of the show. In the Why I Fired Them episode, Lord Sugar admitted that he should have further questioned Jordan business deal at this point, implying that he would almost certainly have fired Jordan had he discovered the truth.

Week 11: Interviews

• Air Date: 10 July 2013
• Task: The five remaining candidates must undergo a series of interviews by Lord Sugar's trusted associates - Margaret Mountford, Claude Littner, Mike Soutar and Claudine Collins. Lord Sugar decides who proceeds, based on feedback.
• Candidate Reviews: All the candidates received mixed or poor reviews. Luisa was given praise for her prior business success, but concerns were raised over her unprofessional behaviour and poorly written business plan, and her motives for wanting to go into business with Lord Sugar were also called into question. Francesca was commended for building herself into an entrepreneur and having a unique plan, but the advisers were unsure whether she could pull off a nationwide proposal, with parts of her financial model not adding up either; Claude even found out that her turnover rate had been made up. She was also criticised for being slightly boring and not being very ambitious when compared to the other candidates. Leah was commended for her superb academic record and for blossoming into a strong businesswoman, but she came off as stiff and vain to some interviewers, and both Claudine and Lord Sugar noted that her plan allowed possible exploitation of future customers, which she denied. While Neil was complimented on his overall knowledge and business skill, his business proposal was universally panned, not only for contradicting itself, but having a huge potential to crash and burn. Neil was unfazed and insisted that he had the drive to make it work, and refused to make any changes or have a back-up plan prepared under pressure from both Claude and Mike, which did not go down well. Jordan was the worst received; although commended for intelligence, the interviewers felt he had no entrepreneurial strengths and exposed all of the loopholes in his CV, more than once accusing him of "jumping onto other people's ideas". The nadir came when it was discovered he did not own any shares of the existing company he wanted Lord Sugar to invest in, and was offering only 15.39% equity, deliberately violating the contract negotiations made prior to the show. Claude was so appalled by these revelations that he refused to interview Jordan, labeling him a "parasite" and terminating the interview without giving him a chance to defend himself.
• Decision: Lord Sugar immediately fired Jordan for trying to go against the rules of the investment, adding he had "nowhere else to go with this". He then told Neil that his business plan would not work, and hence Neil refused to back down, he was fired with regret. After one last round of discussions, Lord Sugar selected Leah and then Luisa as the finalists, for the potential big rewards, and solid business success, respectively. Francesca, whose business plan was felt to be the least ambitious, was therefore fired, though Lord Sugar did wish her well, noting that the decision could be regretted in the future.
• Fired:
  • Jordan - For being unanimously deemed the weakest candidate and for offering shares in a business in which he had no stake.
  • Neil, with regret - For offering a completely unworkable business plan, and being too stubborn to suggest any alternative.
  • Francesca, with regret - For being the weaker candidate out of the remaining three, lacking a firm grip on her financial records, and concerns on scaling up the operation.
• You're Fired Panel: Andi Osho and Matt Edmondson
• Notes:
  • During Luisa's interview with Mike, he described her business plan as "half-baked" as she had described herself as a manufacturer, "as well as a wholesaler, as well as a retailer". Luisa then verbally described her experience in the market, the problem she had identified and her proposed solution; Mike said she had been "crazy" not to write any of this into her business plan.
  • Jordan's claim to be able to solve a Rubik's cube in under 3 minutes was challenged by Mike; he failed to do so, claiming he had made a mistake under pressure. Mike then scrutinised Jordan's credibility, opining that his partner "brings the real value to this", and finally noting that Companies House did not list him as a co-owner despite Jordan's claim to the contrary.
  • Unusually, Jordan's "walk of shame" scene and taxi interview were edited out of the final cut of episode, most likely to highlight that he was not considered a credible candidate after the revelations about his business plan. His walk of shame scene, however, was shown in a clip for "You're Fired"
  • Lord Sugar was particularly disappointed with Neil, seen as a promising candidate let down by a horrible business plan saying that he would have given Neil "a job tomorrow" under the old format of the show.
  • Jordan and Neil's firings made it a record five consecutive dismissals of the same gender. This record was equalled in both series 10 and 11.
  • The interviewers made no mention of the candidates' track record within the show.
  • Despite putting her through to the final before Luisa, Lord Sugar had concerns about the moral issues around Leah's proposed business plan, and only did so upon her insistence that she would not make profit out of consumers unnecessarily, and that she could make "far more money" than Luisa or Francesca.

Week 12: The Final

• Air Date: 17 July 2013
• Finalists: Luisa and Leah
  • Leah's Team: Leah (Project Manager), Alex, Francesca, Myles and Uzma.
  • Luisa's Team: Luisa (Project Manager), Jason, Natalie, Neil and Zeeshaan.
• Task: Finalists launch their businesses, coming up with brands and campaigns.
• Task Review: Luisa's plan was to set up a website intended to sell to members of the baking trade, while Leah intended to set up a chain of cosmetic surgeons. Leah came up with the name "Niks" for her business, even though none of her team liked it, and later Francesca and Myles found out that the public linked it to skin cuts, forcing Leah to change it, though "NIKS" was already printed on all the products. Leah was also noted to be more harsh on her team-mates in this task. On the other hand, Luisa struggled to think of a name for her business, accepting Zeeshaan's suggestion of "Baker's Toolkit." Furthermore, both candidates featured themselves prominently throughout their launch campaign and in their promotional videos. Luisa became focused more on preparing samples than rehearsing her presentation, and so noticeably stumbled at several points in it, even breaking down in tears afterwards. While the overall content was felt to be quite good, the attending industry experts were a little concerned that it seemed to be aimed exclusively at women, and targeted at consumers than trade customers. Leah's presentation ran much more smoothly, though was felt to be a little dry and corporate by those in attendance, and there were still questions about the brand name and the fact that it was a very difficult market for her to get into, even if it was rapidly growing and popular. Despite these issues, both Leah and Luisa were noted to be obviously knowledgeable about their chosen industry. Leah repeated her stubbornness and denied it was a "morally wrong" service being delivered, denying Lord Sugar on a number of points. In the end analysis, Lord Sugar felt that Luisa and her plan had a lot of small problems and the profit margins would be quite low, but noted that going into the baking industry would not be especially risky. On the other hand, he felt that Leah's overall plan was a lot more polished and that there were fewer problems, but that the cosmetics industry was an extremely risky one to go into, even with the higher profit margins. In the end, Lord Sugar felt that the risks involved in Leah's business would be worthwhile, and named her as his new business partner.
• Runner-Up: Luisa - For a mediocre presentation, offering far lower profit margins than desired, and for raising concerns about her giving her full attention to her business.
• Hired: Leah - For a better overall execution of the final task, and for offering much bigger profits with her business.
• Notes:)
  • Unlike past Apprentice finals, where the finalists' teams were chosen via a draft, here, the two finalists were allowed to call any of the candidates from this series and hire them to work in their teams. Notably, Neil was the only member of Luisa's team who she actually wanted, as all the others were hired by Leah first, leading to a team she did not have much confidence in. She was particularly concerned about Jason and Zeeshaan, though in the boardroom she admitted that both had been effective.
  • In her presentation, the concern about Luisa's target market being exclusively for women came down to the logo, website and decorations she used being all shades of pink. Meanwhile, in Leah's presentation, Francesca performed a rhythmic ribbon dance routine.
  • On the You're Hired show after the episode, Luisa apologized to Jason for her actions in week eight, having looked back on the footage.
  • Despite her victory, Lord Sugar did have some concerns about the fact that Leah dismissed any criticisms of her business ideaout of hand, as well as the risks involved in the industry. On the other hand, Luisa was praised for appearing more mature in the final and for blossoming over the process, and even when she admitted to delivering a bad presentation, Lord Sugar rejected the claim, stating that he had not noticed her losing her way during the speech.

Criticism and controversy

Candidates

Jordan Poulton

Candidate Jordan Poulton received infamous attention from tabloid press when he claimed he had sexual intercourse with fellow candidate Luisa Zissman during the filming of the programme. Luisa however denied these rumours, even branding him "sad" and a "liar". Poulton received additional criticism on the show after it was revealed the business plan he was proposing for Lord Sugar to invest in was not actually his own business.

Alex Mills

At the age of 19, contestant Alex Mills set up his first company Prestige Slate which engaged in tombstones and stone signs, while he was running it he was accused of a shady business past which left hundreds of angry customers in his wake and an angry boss who accused Mills of "fleecing his clients" while hundreds of customers said that their orders were either late or did not turn up at all.

Trading Standards in the Vale of Glamorgan, where Prestige Slate was based, confirmed they had received 146 official complaints since it was formed in 2010. Mills was a director of the company until January 2013 while Mills' former boss, who asked not to be named, said: ‘He stole all my information, all my artwork, the pictures from my website and even a lot of my customers.’ a former customer of Prestige Slate ordered a sign from Prestige Slate in 2011 and said she had been ‘completely hoodwinked’.

Uzma Yakoob

Following her firing in the fourth task, contestant Uzma Yakoob was reported to have spitefully accused then-Project Manager Neil Clough of being a "liar" and "cheat" and claimed he had set her up to be fired. Uzma was also reported to have not gotten on with many candidates she worked with during the process, most notably fellow candidate Luisa Zissman.

In addition, Uzma was reported to have faced abuse on Twitter, with people claiming she "looked like a drag queen", and some even going as far as to compare her to the characters from the movie White Chicks, which was considered ironic due to Uzma's makeup business.

Zeeshaan Shah and Kurt Wilson

Candidate Zeeshaan Shah who was fired in Week 5 after failing the Dubai task was accused by Natalie Panayi of sexism after he brought her and eventual Series 9 winner Leah Totton into the boardroom largely because they were women. He said "These are baseless allegations, I don't know where Natalie pulled it out from. It's completely below the belt and something I'm really not happy about. If you want to lie through your teeth then do it but do it with some respect."

Likewise, candidate Kurt Wilson who was fired in Week 7 following the Caravan task was also accused of "terrible sexism" also towards eventual Series 9 winner Leah Totton calling her "eye candy". He claimed however that the comment was "a slip of the tongue." He also said "It was just that I wanted to bring a new dynamic to the group. Me and Myles by that point were quite deflated. I was bringing Leah over because I trusted her, I think she was a good saleswoman and unfortunately that just slipped out at the wrong point. When I finally get a chance to speak to her I'm pretty sure that she won't have taken it in the wrong way."

Results

Week Three and Sophie Lau

Matt Edmondson's Awkward Conversations with Candidate Sophie Lau was put onto the BBC Apprentice website a few hours before the episode aired, leaking the news of Sophie's firing prematurely.

Week Eight and Jason Leech

After the firing of candidate Jason Leech following the dating site task the show was reported to lose almost 300,000 viewers with the report even stating that some viewers of The Apprentice seemingly tried to boycott the show.

Ratings

Official episode viewing figures are from BARB.

Episode no.	Airdate	Viewers (millions)	BBC One weekly ranking
1	7 May 2013	7.25	7
2	8 May 2013	6.64	8
3	15 May 2013	7.22	4
4	22 May 2013	7.69	2
5	28 May 2013	6.88	2
6	5 June 2013	7.29	2
7	12 June 2013	7.81	3
8	19 June 2013	7.48	4
9	26 June 2013	7.30	5
10	3 July 2013	7.53	5
11	10 July 2013	8.24	1
12	17 July 2013	6.74	2

Note: During the 2-hour final, the show was shared with the The Apprentice: You're Hired, and as a result the figures are lower than usual. The first hour was the main show whereas the second hour was You're Hired.

Specials

Episode no.	Airdate	Viewers (millions)	BBC One weekly ranking
The Final Five
	8 July 2013	3.39	29
Why I Fired Them
	11 July 2013	—	—

External links

• The Apprentice (British TV series) series 9 at BBC Online