Lord Sugar has taken a lot of heat from ‘Apprentice’ viewers after axing contestant Jackie Fast for being too successful in the corporate world.
After the shopping network challenge on Wednesday night, Lord Sugar delivered the first double-elimination of the series, letting project manager Tom Bunday go on the spot, before also firing Jackie.
He told her: “Jackie, I have no qualms about you being able to run a business. You’ve done it before. My only concern is whether I would enjoy it, because what I do enjoy is the acorn-to-oak-tree scenario.”
With Khadija and Camilla also in the firing line, he told the three candidates: “I have to make a decision based on who has the potential of being a business partner of mine… And I like my acorns-to-oak-tree, and I think you’re already a semi-oak tree… so it is with regret, Jackie, you’re fired.”
After Jackie’s elimination - which Lord Sugar also put down to the fired candidate’s forceful nature - he told the surviving pair: “You [have] small businesses, which is what I like.”
However, after Lord Sugar decided to show Jackie the door, some viewers took issue with reasoning, suggesting that it was a rather odd decision to axe someone from a business-related show for being… too good at business:
Discussing Lord Sugar’s reasoning, Jackie later told Irish News: “It’s a great way to go. It’s a fair firing, you need to look to what Lord Sugar wants to do with business. He wants the process of making small businesses grow. It sucks, definitely. But I had nothing to prove.”
‘The Apprentice’ continues on Wednesday 5 December at 9pm on BBC One.