'The Apprentice': Lord Sugar Fired Jackie 'For Being Too Successful' And Viewers Aren't Happy

"I enjoy the acorn-to-oak-tree scenario... and you're already a semi-oak tree."

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.”

Jackie in the boardroom
Jackie in the boardroom
ITV

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.”

Lord Sugar
Lord Sugar
BBC

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:

Jackie Fast surely the first contestant on The Apprentice to be fired for being too good at business and making too much money #TheApprentice pic.twitter.com/9aJGIf3DTx

— jim shelley (@jimshelley17) November 28, 2018

So shocked at Jackie’s #TheApprentice firing!! Fired for being too clever? Too smart? Already too successful? Easily the strongest candidate in the process, no idea what Lord Sugar was thinking. She was my winner - incredible woman.

— Emily (@EmilyBashforth) November 28, 2018

Me when Lord Sugar fires Jackie for being more successful than the others #TheApprentice pic.twitter.com/vtsSxSkzHV

— Katie Fitzpatrick 🐝 (@ShowbizKatieMEN) November 28, 2018

@bbcapprentice seriously. #jackie gets fired.... for being too successful?? I know the tasks are pointless, but please TRY to pretend they count #TheApprentice pic.twitter.com/O6OosVOrSi

— Duncan Blunt (@DuncanBlunt) November 28, 2018

So Jackie went through all that to find out she was too successful?! #TheApprentice

— Raechelle Jackson (@raechelle26) November 28, 2018

That was very unexpected to get rid of Jackie !!#apprentice

— Lina Grinchie (@I_Like_Mittens) November 28, 2018

Why let jackie waste however many weeks if she was too good/successful to start with. People are right the tasks don’t matter just the business plan , producers picked a winner day 1. Guess she has exposure to fall back on. #theapprentice

— 😺😻 Natalie Lewis 😸😽 (@xNATILLYx) November 29, 2018

Jackie basically fired for already being successful 🙈 #TheApprentice

— Marc Roche (@Rochey1878) November 29, 2018

Lord Sugar firing Jackie for being too successful already reminds me of Michaela last year. Why let them get this far if you’re then going to fire them for something you’ll have known since week 1?? She shouldn’t have been chosen for the show at all. #TheApprentice

— Toothless (@King_Aragorn__) November 28, 2018

.@bbcapprentice Really beginning to wonder about The Apprentice. What the hell was Jackie doing on the show if she was not enough of an "acorn" for @Lord_Sugar ? Surely the selection process knows what he is looking for & should have picked someone better who meet his criteria?

— Sarah Gray (@sarahjaneuk) November 28, 2018

@bbcapprentice someone explain to me what happened. If thats the case & hes only looking for small businesses, why are people like Jackie brought onto the show? Shes put her life on hold, fighting to be @Lord_Sugar partner all that time for nothing. Wrong decision #apprentice

— Hayley Edwards (@hayleyed74) November 28, 2018

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.

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