The Apprentice 2018 started tonight – but who was the first candidate to go home?
The new series kicked off this evening with sixteen brand new candidates from a broad range of backgrounds.
They all have one thing in common, a passionate desire to secure a £250,000 investment in their business plan and win a partnership with Lord Sugar.
This year’s series sees The Apprentice contestants put through challenges that are bigger and better than ever.
Lord Sugar has already invested £2million of his own money in eight businesses, and now he’s ready to take a gamble on a brand-new venture. The sixteen hopeful candidates will be whittled down over the next 12 weeks until only one remains.
Things started this evening with a boardroom full of quips and commentary on Brexit as Lord Sugar uped the ante right from the start and warned the candidates to “expect the unexpected” before immediately sending them abroad.
As the group headed for the airport, Lord Sugar left them with a strong word of warning ringing in their ears; “Remember, this is NOT a holiday”.
Split into teams of Men and Women, and under the scrutiny of Baroness Brady and Claude Littner, the candidates’ went off to Europe.
They jetted off to this year’s capital of culture, Valletta, in Mediterranean Malta, on a day-long shopping spree.
The challenge itself was an Apprentice classic: Buy a list of items for the cheapest price.
Keeping in with their location, they were asked to bag nine Maltese items for the lowest possible prices before reuniting back to the airport by 7pm. There were fines for missing or incorrect items or missing the deadline.
The boys team quickly hit the road, but as fish out of water, they were clearly on the wrong scent over an octopus. Meanwhile on the girls’ team, fiery personality clashed over negotiations soon rocked the boat.
In the boardroom both teams faced fines for missing items, while the girls’ team was also fined for missing the deadline.
In the end, the boys won the task spending 764 euros including fines to the girls’ total of 929 euros.
In a heated boardroom, project manager Jasmine Kundra decided to bring back Jackie Fast and Sarah Byrne back to face Lord Sugar.
And it was Sarah who became the first candidate this year to be told, ‘You’re Fired!’
The Apprentice 2018 continues Wednesday nights on BBC One.
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