There is usually one week of the series that fans of The Apprentice look forward to the most but it appears some were not impressed with this year’s round of candidate interviews as the show was slapped with complaints. The hit BBC One show returned to screens on Thursday night (March 16) for the penultimate episode of the 17th series.

Viewers watched as the five remaining candidates – Dani Donovan, Megan Hornby, Victoria Goulbourne, Marnie Swindells, Rochelle Anthony – went through the famous interviews which sees their business plans completely picked apart by Lord Alan Sugar’s trusted advisers.

Claude Littner returned to help after he was seen right at the start of the series as he slowly returned to work following a horror bike accident. And this year, for the first time, Baroness Karren Brady also stepped in to quiz Lord Sugar’s potential business partners alongside Mike Soutar and Linda Plant as they helped the billionaire businessman whittle down the remaining contestants from five to two ahead of next week’s final.

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And as expected, the foursome didn’t hold back when they came face-to-face with Lord Sugar’s potential business partners and the nerve-wracking process became too much for both Victoria and Dani, both of whom ended up in tears during their time with Baroness Brady.

And Karren didn’t impress viewers of The Apprentice when in one exchange, she told sweet shop and cafe owner Megan Hornby: “You don’t take it seriously Megan, this is rubbish. You say you’re going to have a turnover of £600,000. But you don’t explain how.”

Megan tried to tell her: “I honestly don’t think £600,000 is that unrealistic.” To which Karren replied: “Well I do. And on that note Megan..” Megan then said: “Thank you Karren”, before Karren cuttingly replied: “It’s Baroness Brady to you. My friends call me Karren.”

And the remark didn’t go down well on social media. @p_farrell tweeted: “‘It’s Baroness Brady to you.’ The arrogance and entitlement of Karren Brady is staggering. Who speaks like that? #theapprentice.” @isntbenrandom said: “Watching @karren_brady tearing other women down is… not on brand and horrible to watch.” @lulubelle added: “Since when did @karren_brady become so mean? I always thought she was supportive of women. Not enjoying this series of #TheApprentice. Not the best candidates either.”

But some like Karren’s tough approach. @betbinch said: “Karren handing over a Kleenex after making someone cry. The ultimate girlboss #TheApprentice.” @zeshasaleem tweeted: “‘my friends call me Karren’ is one of the best interview zingers ever from @karren_brady. phew #TheApprentice.” @all_day_ added: “This will never get old @karren_brady bringing the a-game to interviews week. #theapprentice #TheApprentice2023,” alongside a clip of her parting moment with Megan.

Some, however, were not a fan of the interview process overall like @MattieBoy92 who said: “The interviews – as entertaining as they are – p**s me off. They just rip every business plan to shreds and say how shit it all is! If the business plans and ideas are so bad, why would they put them on the show in the first place? #TheApprentice.” And @nichlewis who shared: “The interviews used to be such a fun #theapprentice episode. Now it’s just an exercise in humiliation and utterly pointless.”

With the interviews over, the advisors sat down with Lord Sugar before he had the candidates back in the boardroom to reveal who had made it one step closer to his crucial £250,00 investment. Unfortunately for Dani, Megan and Victoria, their business plans didn’t manage to impress and they were eventually fired by Lord Sugar, meaning Marnie and Rochelle will appear in the final on Thursday, March 23.

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