The second episode of The Apprentice ended in a shock double exit on Thursday evening, after the candidates had spent the day making bao buns.
The 17th series of the BBC reality show returned to TV screens last week with 18 new candidates competing to win a life-changing investment of £250,000 from Lord Sugar.
Once again, The Apprentice delivered plenty of cringeworthy candidate fails after Lord Alan Sugar ’s hopefuls were summoned to the award-winning restaurant Hutong in the Shard for week two.
They two teams were told they would be manufacturing bao buns, with a savoury bun to punt to the public and a bespoke sweet one to sell to a corporate client, and the team who secured the biggest overall profit would be crowned the victor.
The episode delivered kitchen explosions followed by a grilling in the boardroom, which resulted in Lord Sugar raising his ominous finger to tell Dublin accountant Kevin D’Arcy he would be going home.
The task was ultimately a profit-based task and as Lord Sugar said in the boardroom: “Kevin, you sold the Bao Buns too low.
“You were more focused on revenue rather than profit and so it is with regret, you’re fired.”
Speaking about his regrets on the show, Kevin said: “I think I would have tried to put myself on the corporate team for the bao bun task, that’s where the ship sank, and I think those guys steered it straight for the iceberg.
“I was fired because I wasn’t able to deploy the lifeboats quick enough. I clearly watched Titanic over Christmas!
“As an accountant cooking is probably the furthest thing away from what I do day in, day out. Brad said he was a great cook, then put himself on the opposite team…”
Yet the second episode delivered a twist as fellow candidate and bridal boutique owner Shannon Martin decided to leave the show – before she had even found out her team won the task.
Shannon subsequently admitted the show was ‘the hardest thing she’s ever done’ but also added it was an ‘amazing experience’.
She said: “Being flown to Antigua in the first week was an amazing opportunity. I loved every minute of the experience, but it is hard.
“When Lord Sugar says it’s the hardest interview of your life, he’s not lying. I likened it to being on SAS: Who Dares Wins, but without Ant Middleton waking you up in the morning.”
The Apprentice airs Thursdays on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
