On tonight’s edition of The Apprentice, antiques expert Gregory Ebbs was eliminated from the competition after failing to fulfil Lord Alan Sugar’s expectations.
After initially impressing the tycoon in the first episode of the 2023 series, when the candidates put on tours for tourists in Antigua, his lack of expertise about children’s cartoons eventually led to his dismissal a few weeks later.
During the most recent show, the teams – which included both male and female candidates for the first time – were asked to make animated short films that would entertain two-to-four-year-olds while also impressing industry experts.
The losing team’s cartoon, which contained a brief story about two children having fun together on the playground, fell short of the mark, with one of the biggest gaffes being that the animated kids didn’t have hands, despite playing a clapping game together.
Gregory abstained from expressing strong thoughts while working with his team, which led to some of the other candidates criticising him in the boardroom for a lack of input.
While he maintained that he was not competent to make decisions on this particular work, Lord Sugar sealed his doom by saying, ‘Gregory, by your own admission, you struggled with the task. You must adjust in business. Gregory, I regret to inform you that you have been sacked.’
Speaking in his taxi after his elimination, the budding businessman said: ‘I understand that Lord Sugar fired me because he felt I was unable to adapt.
‘However, I am determined to prove Lord Sugar wrong and show him why I should have been his next business partner.’
Reflecting on being fired, he added: ‘It’s tough. It’s a really tough experience and obviously you would love to secure Lord Sugar’s investment so that is difficult to take. Also, when you leave the process, you leave a lot people who you’ve built close connections with.
‘Overall it’s a very challenging sort of experience. On the whole, I enjoyed the process and I think that I’m very, very glad that I did it. It’s been honestly very rewarding.’
He added that his journey on The Apprentice has ‘reinforced the idea that anything is possible’.
‘You’re only limited by what you set your goal to. That’s what I’ve taken from the show. There’s a big world out there, anything is possible, and I’m just really excited about the future,’ he stated.
Gregory recently issued an apology in a statement after it was revealed that he was selling Nazi memorabilia through his online antiquities shop.
‘I in no way condone or wish to be looking to be celebrating this abhorrent and shameful part of history and I apologise for any offence caused,’ he said.
‘My online business is an antiques marketplace where independent sellers have a platform to sell a wide range of antiques, memorabilia & militaria from many different periods of history.
The entrepreneur explained that the ‘item in question was sold by a third party vendor’, adding: ‘This type of memorabilia is not something I would personally sell or stock.
‘The website is relatively new and I will be looking to implement stricter vetting procedures for third party vendors.’
The Apprentice returns next Thursday at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
