Lord Alan Sugar is edging closer to finding his next business partner as he fires his ninth The Apprentice candidate.
The hit BBC One show was back on screens on Thursday night and saw the successful businessman whisk the remaining investment hopefuls to Greenwich Market.
Alongside his aides, Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell, Lord Sugar revealed their latest task - but it had nothing to do with the market as he tasked them with selling products on a teleshopping programme.
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Each team had to sell live to the nation on one of the country’s leading TV shopping channels in a prime-time slot after picking out a high-ticket 'star buy' item as well as other sellable products.
Akshay Thakrar was project manager of Diverse after pledging he would take the lead to escape last week's boardroom firing. Meanwhile, Brittany Carter was chosen as PM for Team Infinity.
Brittany and Aaron Willis managed to bag the most expensive item, a tanzanite ring, while the other half of the team picked out a solar-powered owl lamp, a six-piece bedding set, and an inflatable flamingo.
But after missing out on the ring, Stephanie and Kathryn had to opt for the air fryer as their 'star buy' item while Akshay chose a snail skin cream and a clothes steamer.
The task, however, proved difficult for both teams with them in charge of sales both in front and behind the camera.
In the end, though, it was revealed back in the boardroom that Team Diverse had secured over £400 less of revenue from products than their competitors, leaving Akshay, Stephanie and Kathryn at risk of being fired - again.
Back in the boardroom, it was PM Akshay who found himself being pointed at by Lord Sugar and given his marching orders after finding himself back in the boardroom six times leaving him uneasy about investing in his business plan.
However, as the fired candidate thanked him for the opportunity, Lord Sugar added: "Keep in touch," leading to The Apprentice viewers making a huge future prediction.
@WAQA5MAN500R tweeted: "Lord Sugar saying to Akshay “keep in touch” after firing him knowing he’s still gonna receive that investment #TheApprentice."
"Not Alan saying ‘keep in touch’ he’s deffo gonna invest in his business off air #TheApprentice," @abbeylouuu predicted.
@georgiaas00 commented: "'Keep in touch' basically means 'I like you, you’re gonna work for me, but it’d be embarrassing for me if i let you win this show' #TheApprentice
"Lord Sugar telling Akshay to keep in touch is SUPER unusual. Expecting big things from him in the future #TheApprentice," @sobethsaidpubl1 said.
@angiemayjay shared: "You can see that Lord Sugar likes Akshay a lot, and found firing him difficult - haven’t seen him say 'keep in touch' to any of the other contestants! He will definitely be working with him soon #theapprentice."
"'Keep in touch' Akshay must have a brilliant business plan. Bet Lord Sugar invests in him. #TheApprentice," @Sturdygirl0803 added.
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