The Apprentice 2026 Thread 2 - Conversate here!

[IHeartMyTissues]

As we head towards the final stages, it's shopping TV up next - can the current bunch recreate the glory of James Max and the Wolf jacket? Will it be happy days or chuffin' hell?

The place for conversating about it all!

I cannot abide Mr Smug Kieran.

I’d have got rid of Kieran.

Kieran's 'if I lose, I walk' came over as really arrogant. I bet Suralan 'mixes the teams' next week because he needs to make sure there's two on each team that he's happy to get rid of to whittle down to five.

I reckon Karishma is safe despite her cock up this week because her record is otherwise outstanding.

Kieran we know is outta there if he loses.

Suralan seems to like Dan so I think he will be safe.

Don't rate Pascha or Lawrence's chances much if they are on the losing side.

How is this football match still going on?? Did the BBC fix the result to be a draw to avoid awkwardness with Levi 😆

Penalty kicks now! You have to be joking! Some of us have work tomorrow, I need to go to bed.

It's on I Player.

I liked Levi until I saw this article. They should do better at vetting candidates personally

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jan/28/bbc-urges-stricter-checks-after-offensive-tweets-emerge-from-the-apprentice-contestant-levi-hodgetts-hague

I knew Kieran would weasel his way through. I can’t stand him and I’m not sure why apart from his shit hair which never looks clean. Pascha’s make up
is weird and I don’t really get her. I keep getting Dan and Lawrence mixed up. Karishma FTW

Do you think Kieran’s team won’t perform as well as they know he will then have to leave! Or is that risky as there will be a double firing

Thanks, will catch up tonight!

I think ultimately it won't make much difference - Suralan knows already who he wants in the final five. I think he'll skew the teams to make it happen as far as he can, but it's completely in his power to fire outside the win/lose parameters if he wants to. He even could do a 'well, you won, team but X, you contributed nothing so you're fired'. My bet is that no way will Karishma and Dan be on the same team!

The one issue with Karishma, which we saw last night, is that she powers through and does her own thing, without taking on board any advice from others. Nine out of ten times, her ideas are solid so this works, but if she's off track as she was with the tanzanite, it's a potential disaster. I think she's going to have to show she can take on board advice, because as a business partner, Alan isn't going to want to be ignored.

I agree. It was a strange one with Karishma last night going off on that tangent and not even reacting when the team were shouting down the ear pieces. Very odd and she even started on it again in the boardroom when Alan Sugar brought it up.

I'm not a Levi fan either but conversely I think he got too distracted by listening to the noise in his ear and around him, and didn't have a chance to think really. That boot dryer had potential to be a good seller if promoted sensibly and calmly (they're pretty popular in my walking club for drying wet boots) but regardless it was clear he was never a favourite unlike smarmy Kieran - and that was a crafty move he pulled about wanting to be next PM.

@TheWeeDonkeyFella I agree regarding the shoe dryer - so much potential for target markets. When I've finished work, I put my boots on the radiator - not pleasant.
Also, with the selling of jewellery, they never say, Would this make a great gift, etc
I suppose they don't have much time, which is obviously part of the entertainment
Next week - pets
That'll hurt me as it's not long since I had my dog pts. Well, 2 years, but I've been avoiding Pet Talk
Xx🤣💔

Ah, sorry to hear about your dog @Myswweetchild. 💐 4 years since my little cat went over the bridge and I still avoid the Litter Tray threads on here!

Honestly I've really been overthinking the boot dryer target markets today, I'm thinking of pitching myself to that shopping channel to shift what the team couldn't!

So sorry about your dog, mysweetchild. Mine died five years ago and I still miss him every day.

I remember the time in the 2023 series when they had to make pet food, and one team went for insect-based dog food. I know dog food is never exactly pretty but their concoction was absolutely revolting! Mind you, my dog used to try to eat the cats' poo so he might have enjoyed it!

(edited it as referred to wrong poster, sorry)

I found that a hard watch at the end. I know Levi is not great, but Lord Sugar was so rude to him when he left, in contrast to Conor. It was so rude.

It was funny that no one except Levi saw a use for a shoe dryer. They don't walk anywhere. I would use that. Saves heating the whole house to put trainers on radiators. Some of us can't afford a second pair and need them to dry out quickly.

Disappointed in Karishma. Saw another side to her. She's amazing, but maybe sometimes a bit difficult. Liked Dan. He is so shy. Much more likeable than Kieran.

Although on her Instagram Karishma is claiming it was a bad edit and she actually sold a lot of a product that was totally missed out of the episode.

The team did sell a lot of items, not sure of what?

Maybe by that point he’d found out Levi was a racist, misogynistic, homophobic prick? He did give him a ‘with regret’ before he was fired though to maybe soften the blow. We hardly saw Levi the first few episodes and some posters seemed to think he’d been cut because of the unearthed Twitter comments but I think it was because he didn’t do much so don’t think SA’s comments were unjustified.

Levi did the "If you ever need me ...." as he walked out the door, which was very cringe. Much better to leave Lord Sugar wanting more.

Also, I found it weird that Karen said (at least twice) that Conor's team should have picked the ring and sold three rather than the bracelet. Considering there were no sales of the ring, it was far from certain they would have sold three.

I like Dan the best. He always appears like he wandered into the whole thing by accident, and there were a few episodes where I don't think he was there at all. I hope he has a killer business idea and wins outright. If he doesn't, he'll just wander off and join some other series partway through.

Yes, and they said the professional had sold 11 bracelets in the same slot, but they were told there were only 5 in stock, so that was never going to happen!

I've only just caught up with the last episode. Feel like they must have finally discovered Levi was bad news - I can't recall a time someone got fired before the PM had chosen who to bring back in.

One thing I didn't get was why with the shoe dryer they didn't mention runners. Shoe dryers are listed in top 10 presents I ideas as to what to get runners at Christmas. Don't think the main feature is reducing smelliness 😁

How is Keiran still in? I thought he should have gone as he was absolutely useless in this task. He loves himself too much.