Karren Brady and Tim Campbell, Lord Alan Sugar’s assistants on The Apprentice, normally stay impartial while they monitor and judge the teams taking on the tasks.
However, Karren couldn’t disguise her scepticism during tonight’s show when one of the teams announced the results from a market research inquiry, when they found out that just a tiny fraction of customers would be interested in adopting their product.
In week seven of the 2023 series, the applicants are charged with building a new lunchbox geared at children aged six to eight, as well as an app to encourage healthy eating within this age group.
Teammates Avi Sharma, Bradley Johnson, Marnie Swindells, Sohail Chowdhary, and Rochelle Raye Anthony explain their findings from a focus group, in which they asked young children what they thought of their work, in a video provided by Metro.co.uk.
Avi informs them all, in an unquestionably devastating blow: ‘Only one out of nine, or around 11% of the youngsters group, claimed they would use the app.’
Karren, who is sitting against a wall behind them, grimaces at this comment, which plainly reveals how much more effort they need to do to get a win.
That isn’t the end of the team’s squabbles, as the entrepreneurs argue about who will present their concept.
While Sohail expresses his desire for Marnie to join the pitching staff, Avi speaks up to explain why he believes he is deserving of the position.
‘I would say Sohail, I’m the one person on this team who’s got the stats back to front, and so I personally believe it’s a bit of a mistake not including me in the pitch,’ he remarks.
‘I would say, though, we all made notes on the stats,’ Marnie retorts.
Avi, on the other hand, is emphatic, saying, ‘Yeah, Marnie, we all have stats. But I’ve given a lot of consideration to not just the statistics, but what the statistics indicate.’
Nonetheless, Sohail overrules him and chooses Marnie, telling her, “I know you can communicate things clearly, handle the customer side of things.”
Avi nods, a frustrated expression on his face, having been unable to utilise his persuasive abilities to get his way.
Will the team be able to rally behind their product enough to earn a victory in the boardroom, or will one of them be fired tonight?
The Apprentice returns tonight at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
