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!

Karren putting the boot in there !

Rothna was unlucky this was a pet task really.

The idea around the cat three was decent. I'd be interested in something tree/plant like (unless it was a triffid). But the design was poor - not sure how a cat was accessing the dome at the top.

Like how Kieron claimed most house plants are taller than him! Not sure where he hangs out - but I'm certainly shorter than him and never been anywhere all the plants tower over me!!

Felt bad for Rothna, I wish Pascha had gone, she’s irritating- chique is not French! I still want Karishma to win but I’d be happy w Dan or Laurence (I know someone who knows him!) very tenuous connection I know.

I think it came down to Suralan preferring Dan's business plan. It sounded like Rothna's was only at the concept stage and he's already invested in a few cakes/ sweets businesses in the past - which were established businesses - so Rothna's was never going to be much of a goer. A shame as I really liked her.

Same Karishma, Dan or Lawrence for me. Shame about Rothna.

My dog would go mental, if she heard my voice coming out of her bed. She only has to hear a family member on loudspeaker and she starts running round the house to find us.

I really don’t care about spoilers, but I was scrolling social media whilst watching & a picture of the final 5 was posted on Sir Alan’s Instagram account at 9:45pm, so before the end of the episode. Whichever intern was in control of his social media will surely be fired 😂

It’s all on the edit and what the producers want you to see
sir Alan will know fairly early on who’s buisness plan works
Rothna was lovely but gone the second she mentioned a cake buisness
Krishna and Dan surely in the final two

The more I think about it, the more I am annoyed that the dog team won. There is no way that product IRL would make it to the market. Its USP was an untested claim, and potentially harmful. The cat thing was usable with a few minor tweaks. The buyers are just pretending to buy something that in reality they wouldn't touch with a bargepole.

I didn't think the cake business was scalable/unique, unfortunately.

Looks like Karishma might get a rough ride in the interviews from the previews but maybe that's a red herring?

The cat tree was only a concept , made lighter and smaller it would work ( with maybe a tweak or two here and there ) but it wasn’t a terrible idea really.
Most dog owners I know have baskets for their dogs, a sofa is a nice idea, but maybe without the voice ( although no USP there I guess) and a proper French name ! Both ideas could be modified, but I bet these pet shops get lots of ideas and products sent to them.

I think this is a part of The Apprentice which will never cease to annoy me. They have to design something:

• they split into two - and can't communicate until it's (appears to be) to late to make amendments where the product and name/design don't line up
• go get feedback - and this is the bit that bugs me the most - which which they can do absolutely nothing because they can't make any changes.

I mean the cat tree as a mock tree was good, but no one on that team had a clue about cats. As you say a few changes - height, weight and switching where the platforms and opening to the dome is so it was a accessable - then it would be a good product

I liked Keiron, what was his business plan?

The cat tree definitely needed tweaks but not a bad concept if it had size options. While what the dog owners came up with was poor, a bog standard pet bed with the added audio thing which most owners wouldn't want anyway.

Pascha is so overconfident it's annoying, especially the spelling thing last night and being adamant that everyone else (including the French guy!) was wrong.

My money is on Dan, especially with his mention of getting into lucrative government contracts which made Alan Sugars ears prick up.

Building his own estate agency business, he says he's spent years matching buyers with their dream homes and now time to build his own business instead of selling for someone else.

Agree that the cat tree was a good idea in principle but it was ugly and too tall/cumbersome. I’ve had cats on/off all my life and I liked the bottom bit with the mouse - I can’t remember if there was a scratching post in there & the level bits were too small and at the wrong angle.
I don’t know enough about dogs to comment on that one - maybe playing soothing sounds would have been better - Bach 😂 perhaps!

Basically, if you want to entertain a cat just give it whatever giant box the cat tree comes in!

There was a scratching post. What Dan didn't seem to notice or mention was that the cats in the cat cafe(if that was what it was) were playing with it, especially the mouse at the bottom. Any real manufacturing process would go back to the drawing board at that stage and redesign around that element. A few tweeting birds and feathers instead of the stupid fruit and it would have been good if a bit smaller and with better positioned platforms.

Dan owns the company which I said at the beginning my DS had interactions with whilst in year 13 and then at uni, including Dan himself. Perfectly decent concept- DS was put off by its 'yuppiness' : my word , not his. Dan doesn't quite match the persona of the company . He seems very mild mannered. His outfit is very City Boy, ultra capitalism, almost straight out of the 80s etc (but Sugar would probably like that). It's certainly a new direction for The Apprentice winning stuff.

One thing that I thought got overlooked about Kieran was how nice he was to and about other contestants. If someone said in the boardroom that they had done something well, it was often Kieran who backed them up and agreed with them . He never tried to undermine anyone (except Connor - he didn't like him).

I don't like Lawrence. Don't even quite know why.

Is Pascha really only 22??

Also- in the past when pitching to companies, teams used to say they would change things for the companies (such as a name, a flavour adjustment, colours). They don't seem to do that any more? Or are the contestants too dim?

It was totally Dan's fault that Team Cat lost really because of the Pets At Home issue.

I agree, and Dan or his business don't really appeal to me (but it's not my investment!) but having ambition to get into public sector contracts is a good move - if he has the details to back it up of course and can align with initiatives around getting young people into work, apprenticeships etc. Saying that, Paschas business is care sector recruitment related which is a sector that's only going to continue to expand too.

Also agree re Keiran and his behaviour with others in the group. I noticed previously if anyone criticised him he'd wince or raise an eyebrow but didn't really go on the attack himself.

Looking forward to them all coming under scrutiny next week!

Who is the smiley one who Sugar said "I can't believe you're still in it" to? He's got a very cute face.

Dan lost it for them with the Pets at Home order.

Don't like Laurence at all or Pascha.

Kind of disappointing bunch left.

Oh, yes. Beautiful face. I think we have all written him off. I have also forgotten his name. He will probably win now.

I can’t bear Dan. He brings nothing to the table. He’s so bland & critical of others. Karishna for me all the way. Although I really liked Rothna

The Apprentice 2026 candidates - Meet the hopefuls competing for Lord Sugar's investment in series 20 https://share.google/SHXZYoJq8fFt5oWBe

Priyesh is the cheeky smile one. And he must have been told that all his life as it's basically his pitch.

Don't like Pascha and going into the care home business always sets off alarm bells for me.