The Apprentice, Wednesday 9pm, BBC1

By Will Parkhouse

Preview rating:
In theory, The Apprentice is a little bit more serious than other reality TV fare.

What you’ve got to remember is that there’s a job at stake here. Although it’ll probably mainly involve ironing Sir Alan Sugar’s beard and unwrapping his Fruit Pastilles, it’s still a job. And although going by past form, said job will only last a month or two, it’s still a job. And although none of the other employees will take you seriously because your interview lasted 12 weeks and saw you humiliated numerous times on national television, IT’S STILL A JOB.

Ahem. Anyway, a Tre-Katie final would’ve been an amazing bear v shark-type contest – and certainly the most mind-bendingly brilliant hypothetical TV treat since Kilroy-Silk was mooted for Celebrity Big Brother. Sadly it wasn’t to be.

Instead we have Kristina Grimes and Simon Ambrose. Frankly, I don’t really see how Kristina can lose. Although Simon beat the others by showing a remarkable aptitude for not making utterly stupid decisions, I’m not sure Sir Alan has really warmed to that penitent please-don’t-hit-me face of his. And being a nervous type, he’s bound to fluff it up tonight when he faces 100 hard-nosed property experts.

Kristina, despite looking like an orange Patsy Kensit, is made of sterner stuff. She exchanged verbal blows with the fearsome Katie and came out of it not only with her front teeth still in place, but with her dignity intact too.

But as always, we’ll have to wait and see. I expect begging. I expect whimpering. And even when the series is all over, I expect the phrase, "I will do anything Siralan, just let me prove myself to you" to echo round my head like footsteps in a haunted house.

Comments

[A]

Alan Sugar is a complete idiot.. he puts on a stupid act of hiring the underdog and seeing if he can turn them into a mini-version of himself. Personally i think he couldn't hire a car,the Badger shud have won last year and kristina should have won this year.

[Siobhan Faulds]

Christina is definately going to win. She is gutsy, she can sell, and boy is Simon going to be blown away she is the star of this final. Simon should of gone after the wheelchair fiasco. But unforuntately due to the bad tactics of Katie, Simon would not even be in the finel. Come on Christina do it for the girls.

[j howgego]

i think simon may have a chance as alan will basically want a person to fetch his shoes do his ironing make the coffee etc, an well to be honest i can see simon doing that!not becasue he is stupid, just to much of a people pleaser.

[mel]

i think christina deserves to win she is persistant and intelligent and does things rather than just talking about doing them.
I don't think Simon would be a very good bussiness man i think he probably feels he needs to suceed in this because he has sucessful family but really his talents lie elsewhere, he would make a good comedian or a hotel manager.

[Tom William]

i have read in the paper tht they both get the job as alan has said tht they are both very employable

[Tom William]

i have read in the paper tht they both get the job as alan has said tht they are both very employable

[Annmarie]

I think that he should not hire either of them lets face it everyone is calling Katie a b**** but seem to have forgot how much of a c** Christina can be! She was nasty and vinditive and resorted to any tact possible to demean other contestants so no i dont think she should win! Neither do I think Simon should win because he is total wet blanket! I mean come on who can possibly imagine him as a hard nosed business man!!!!

[andy]

Kristina will win, simon hasnt got a clue and i dont thing HE can even believe he is in the final!!!

[Unsure]

christina

[Katie]

If Kristina doesn't win then I've lost the will to live. Surely it's a one horse show this evening.

[sarah flann]

Sir alan is a sensible man and Kristina is the obvious choice for his company she is determined and level headed, she seems to be the sort who will fit in to any team and will work hard to achieve was is asked of her And achieve it! Simon is all show he doesnt seem to have the confidence or intellegence to succeed in a job like this, im sure he would work hard but he hasnt got the skills sir alan needs for his demanding company!.... I Hope Kristina has a great time working for Sir Alan...

[hannah]

I think that kristina deserves to win! simon is a wimp not just comes across as one, he hasn't wanted it as much as kristina and he has plenty more of his life to find a job.

[Annabel]

simon to win!
all along i wanted trey to win..he talked so much sense and said it in the funniest way! loved watching him! and simon...hes a business man yet so down to earth..makes mistakes but shows to everyone hes not perfect but that you dont have to be to be successful! he had me in stitches on the teleshopping task with the trampoline! and those starjumps!
kristinas just boring to me! doesnt stand out...nothing special! x

[Keith Raven]

Those of us who have had serious business responsibility look on and wonder how the hell people like Simon ever made it on to the programme. He is living proof that jobs in the city given to ex public schoolboys can't be that hard if Simon can do them. The lady will win because she's done a bit and has probably had her balls on the table on deadlines etc more than once - question is does Simon have any balls at all. I wouldn't let him run a bath let alone a company and neither will Sir Alan.

[Paul]

Simon to win he's a decent block. After seeing Kristina asking a small child if she would like a lolly pop, when she said "yes" handing it to the child and then asking the dad for £2.50, Who was shocked that Kistina had did that ,Was bad business.Then to say a sale is a sale is morally wrong, she has no scruple's, a loser in my eye's and Would never get business from me.

[Aidan]

simon all the way he got to win hes clever and that kind of guy

all Kristina will do is cause the workplace to have a dividing atmosphere with her overpowering figure and anyway simon has a iq of 170

[william king]

Kristina's blatently won simon is just there for show. Simon cant talk properly he just stutters and makes a fool out of himself

[Ben]

Its a one horse race!!! Kristina is the ice maiden!!! And we all know we love her for it, and so does Sir Alan! Simon can only be described as a grasshopper! He's one of those guys you just wanna squish and shout "FOCUS!" too!
Kristina all the way!!! Do it for yourself girl!!! You Deserve it!!!

[Alex]

Kristina all the way! I think Simon is to much of a wimp. Winning The Apprentice is gonna be the easiest task Kristina will have to face. It would have been a more interesting final if it were between Kristina and Katie. I said Kristina to win from day 1 and I will be proved right tonight.

[Claire]

Simon should have gone out on the television sales round. He is intelligent..I'd give him that, but he lacks in common sense and lets face it he's a bit of a wimp! Kristina knows what she wants and works hard to get it. You go girl!

[jim mcinally]

I think Simon could be the best long term bet,and he would be accepted more than kristina by the other workers, because of his , education and work background.
Also in a male dominated field such as business.
Talking about Katie, i could not stand her at the start of the series, but in the end i felt a bit sorry for her especially after i heard she lost her real life job.
Maybe katie has become what she is a because of being a woman in a male dominated work place.

[Laura]

I think it's going to be a tough call tonight. Fair do's Kristina has balls and takes no crap from anyone, but Simon always has a very valid and logical reason behind any decision he makes. Plus he's generally very competent with any task put before him, whereas Kristina doesn't have such a broad range of skills (in my opinion anyway). Having said that I think Kristina will probably still come out on top anyway, purely because of the fact that she's persistent. I'd prefer Simon to win though; if I was Sir Alan I'd pick Simon - he's much more fun! It could go either way!!!!!!!

[steve]

Simon is most defintely the more intelligent of the two left in the competition. Trouble is his comes across as being a bit of a wimp. Kristina on the other hand comes across as being ballsy and won't take any rubbish off anyone. If sir alan wants a job doing starting from scratch, she is the most capable. I think in tonight's show we will see a triumphant queen wearing her crown.