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The Apprentice: Week Twelve

The Apprentice winner Lee McQueen
  • Posted at 5:10pm
  • 12 June 2008
  • by PaulJones-RT
  • 4 comments

It's been a gruelling process, The Apprentice, hasn't it? I don't mean for the candidates, I mean for us, the faithful viewers! Twelve weeks of the main programme, with all its emotional highs and lows, followed by You're Fired!, plus - for the really dedicated - all those extras shows.

After seeing Sir Alan take the four remaining candidates out for a slap-up meal in a posh restaurant, it occurred to me: we deserve a treat too! Like Claire, I want three courses and champagne and cuddly Uncle Sir Alan exchanging friendly banter. Come on, Sir Alan - dinner's on you!

But who, at the end of the series, would we be raising a toast to?

It was Lee and Claire v Alex and Helene, plus a choice selection of the fired candidates, in a task to create "an original fragrance for the modern man". But who is this modern man? Lee, any thoughts? "He might wax, he might have a 'back, sack and crack' - he definitely shaves his balls."

While Lee contemplated applying aftershave to his freshly shorn nether regions (he could call the fragrance "Aaaarrrgh!"), Alex was taking advice on the design of the bottle. From Kevin. And the boy genius's thinking was so far out of the box as to be off the planet. Would it be possible, he wondered, to manufacture a receptacle shaped like a stress ball? Or a Rubik's cube? Well, possible, yes…

Next up, what to call the product? Claire and Lee's team came up with Psst!, Primal, Dollar and, finally, Roulette. All pretty naff but you can't really criticise, can you, when there are actual, genuine aftershaves out there called things like Joop! and Vavoom?

Helene, meanwhile, had made no progress, though the answer was right in front of her. Refined yet masculine, and with a touch of the exotic? Surely her aftershave had to be called "Raef"?

But Helene was too busy bitching about nothing in an attempt to conceal the fact that she didn't have a clue. It's no surprise. When have we ever seen Helene do anything, other than talk? She failed utterly at sales and was a complete nothing as a manager. She's pretty good in interviews and she's bolshy in the boardroom - that's it.

After she and Alex were fired, the sound of her whingeing, moaning and laying the blame continued, finally drifting away on the evening breeze as her taxi disappeared off into the distance…

True, Alex had made a fatal mistake in choosing an aftershave bottle so expensive to produce that it would have brought Sir Alan's business empire to its knees in a week. But at least he "works well with others". And if he has been a bit sneaky from time to time, his tears at the end demonstrated just how much he'd wanted to win.

All things considered, I think Lee and Claire were worthy finalists. If it was difficult for Sir Alan to choose between them, it's because, being honest, all of the candidates are flawed. Sir Alan finally put his money on Lee McQueen, the inventor of Roulette aftershave. Let's hope the gamble pays off…

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Comments

  • Posted on 16 June 2008
  • at 12:45pm
  • by Ionaclio

You are indeed correct Les. It was Catering College that Lee attended, or did not stay very long, not Uni. I still don't think he should have lied about it though, even at the horrid, nasty interview he had, he was still flannelling his way through it. Some dates on MY CV do not tally but no one ever asked me about them. There was no lie involved but I was always amazed that no employer ever asked. Must have been my wonderful personality that got me employment when I wanted it. Maybe it was the same for Lee. I wish him well.

  • Posted on 15 June 2008
  • at 6:46pm
  • by Heather Johns
Having watched the whole series and formed the opinion that Claire was too 'gobby', I did however warm to her. However I'm sure Claire will achieve much in business with or without the guidance of Sir Alan. She is a true and truthful professional. I have to admit it would have been nice to see such a fiesty female win, however I wish Lee well as he certainly tried hard!!
  • Posted on 14 June 2008
  • at 10:33pm
  • by Les
Does anybody watch the programme! Lee lied about his time at a catering college, not a university. It had no relevance to the job and I imagine he only put it in to explain a gap in his CV. He didn't say that he completed the course, so it's irrelevant and not somethin any competent person would consider when looking through a CV for a management post, unless catering were involved. Alan Sugar rightly dismissed it.
  • Posted on 13 June 2008
  • at 3:56pm
  • by Ionaclio
Having found Claire too outspoken, my money was on Helene as the dark horse to win, but she completely mucked up. (Note I do not have to resort to the 4 letter words so shamelessly banded about in this programme). I genuinely thought that Claire deserved to win in the end so was very disappointed when it was Lee who was chosen. Claire had brilliant ideas,remained calm while Lee was in great need of a stress ball over his presentation! Lee, for me, had blown it when we heard he had lied on his CV. There is a heck of a difference between 4 months at a Uni than the 2 years he claimed to have attended. I hope that Sir Alan has chosen wisely and not regret his decision to fire Claire in the end.

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