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OK, now we're confused. Only last week we were saying that it seemed Sir Alan had a soft spot for Simon and that the ex-squaddie could do no wrong - and now just one week later he's been fired!
To make matters worse, Sir Alan fired Simon over Alex and Claire (more about those two in a moment) - what is going on?
To be fair, it was a disastrous task for Simon with his team managing to lose money - their photography business having to turn customers away after a mix-up over order numbers. But just how big a part did Alex and Claire play in his downfall?
Last night saw those two - favourites of ours earlier in the series - show their true colours as total snakes. Alex was shirking responsibility right from the start of the task when Simon wanted to appoint him as deputy. This is despite his own declaration that he is the strongest person in the contest! If Alex really is that talented, he's been hiding it well. It was also interesting to see Alex turn on Claire in the boardroom when he thought his own position was in danger. Sir Alan, please see through the sad eyes and pretty boy looks and fire him!
Like Alex, Claire was obstructive throughout the task and seemed to be enjoying it when everything started to go wrong for Simon. Margaret (who appeared to be in a foul mood last night - go Margaret!) got it spot on when she commented that Claire had treated Simon like dirt. So why would Sir Alan want someone like that working for him? It will be interesting to see how she copes next week as team-leader. The others looked less than thrilled at this news.
The Lucinda bullying continued last night with Helene taking her turn to pick on the softly spoken, beret-wearing one. Is anyone going to step in and defend her? And what's wrong with Raef? He spoke about two words last night. We're heard of keeping your head down in the early stages but this is ridiculous.
Are you as shocked as we are to see Simon out of the contest? How did Alex and Claire manage to escape this time? And with Simon gone, who is your favourite to win now?
Let us know your thoughts...
- Watch Simon's reaction to the show
- See the moment Simon is fired
- Find out what's on TV tonight
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User comments
Did the poor bloke manage to get the knife out of his shoulder blades, stuck there by Claire & Alex. Personally I would have got rid of Calire manipulative bi**h that she is.
Posted by: petercharlesworth on Thu Apr 17 02:37PM | Report abusesimon was his own downfall, i can't believe that simon allowed his team to talk back to him in the way they did, he put himself on the front line, he was the project manager and the production process line was his problem, at one stage he went at the back of the set up and almost in tears, i thought he was ex-amy, the art of making money was get the money in the till or orders in first, and worry about how you get the goods to the punters. they tuned away punters, purely on the way they filed, collated the customers orders, they should of have a laptop on the set, and sent the orders through via the laptop, that would have saved time, if this is the qualitity of the people that applied for the "Apprentice", than we have a awful lot of "so called Managers" that are useless. i have never seen so many people look so puzzled trying to do such a simple task. Sir Alan, is proberly thinking in his own catch phase that " You are Fired" after watching the programme for the 1st time last night, both Alex and Claire was as useful as a push bike with no wheels
Posted by: tinasoulsby on Thu Apr 17 02:37PM | Report abuseIm dissapointed to see so much back stabbing, bullying and dirty tricks in this episode. I think the producers have got it badly wrong thinking that this behaviour is in the cause of good entertainment. What a shame that Sir Alan Sugar chose such shallow people over a decent man like Simon.Im sure that after last nights performance, Simon will have a far brighter future away from Sir Alan's organisation. Neil Jenkins
Posted by: neiljenkins1 on Thu Apr 17 02:38PM | Report abuseBoth Claire and Alex have more mileage in them for under-handed, back-stabbing s@#$%baggery which makes for great TV and keeps the series alive. Sorry Simon, your capabilities weren't the issue, it's all about keeping the conflict bubbling until the last show.
Posted by: andy.allen69 on Thu Apr 17 02:39PM | Report abuseclaire should definiataly been fired sir alan was so wrong to sack simon he did nothing wrong claire failed to report to him she was argumentative and loud she deserved to be fired.
Posted by: scarlett.sangster on Thu Apr 17 02:39PM | Report abuseShould of kept simon in thought Sir Alan sacked the wrong person alex is weak and has no back bone and claire is very sneaky and untrustworthy, bring simon back.
Posted by: stevenhorne123 on Thu Apr 17 02:40PM | Report abuseI HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH A POOR SET OF CONTESTANTS, NONE OF THEM HAVE ANY IDEA AND HAVE OBVIOUSLY NOT SPENT ENOUGH TIME IN THE REAL WORLD RUNNING TEAMS OR CLAWING THEIR WAY UP IN A BUSINESS OF ANY STANDING!!
Posted by: ian.hoff on Thu Apr 17 02:42PM | Report abuseWas Claire not the woman in Eastenders who did away with Barry?
Posted by: hmu10 on Thu Apr 17 02:44PM | Report abuseSir ALan got it totally right. I think i would have been obstructive if i had to work for Simon, who couldn't manage his way out of a paper bag. As the project manager, when he was told there was a problem with identifying which photos were to printed he didn't try to solve it until it was too late. The other two might have been smirking over his downfall but they did highlight the problems early on.
Posted by: lesley.taylor17 on Thu Apr 17 02:46PM | Report abuseSir Alan, (with all due respect, Sir) YOU SHOULD BE FIRED.....absolutely wrong decision. Listen to your eyes and ears on the ground, you made the same mistake in the last series with Katie...or perhaps we are all taking this too seriously as a business programme and not a light entertainment show. Please let us know....
Posted by: martyn.horton on Thu Apr 17 02:48PM | Report abuse