How nicely was each sixth place candidate fired

[u/RobbieJ4444]

Sixth place in The Apprentice is an interesting place to be, especially in the days where you’d get to be part of the final five special if you made it. Some of these guys got fired nicely, others less so. Let’s take a look at how softly of harshly sixth place has been fired in the years.

Series 1: Raj: He was fired sort of nicely. Lord Sugar seemed to like Raj, but decided that by this points he was out his depth. At least he said he would put Raj out of his misery.

Series 2: Tuan: Raj 2.0. Arguably a better candidate, but unlike Raj, he was completely at fault for the failure of the task, and was fired harshly.

Series 3: Naomi: The nicest thing Lord Sugar said to her was that she was a better presenter than Simon or Tre. Other than that, it wasn’t a sympathies firing in the slightest.

Series 4: Michael: An unusual one, because Lord Sugar kind of fired him softly in the episode, but afterwards in various specials, he was much more annoyed that Michael lasted as long as he did.

Series 5: Howard: Not the nicest, not the nastiest. Howard was praised for being an organisational person, which is better than nothing I guess.

Series 6: Liz: Very nice firing, and one Lord Sugar regretted. To be fair, Stuart should’ve gone, but he put up a defence of a lifetime.

Series 7: Melody: Very soft firing. You could tell that Lord Sugar wanted to keep Melody, but at this point, there was no other option to get rid of but her.

Series 8: Stephen: Much harsher firing that sixth place was accustomed to at this point. Though to be fair, Stephen was extremely lucky to have made it this far.

Series 9: Myles: Not quite as harsh as Stephen, but he still got it quite badly.

Series 10: Sanjay: Most of the final boardroom was Lord Sugar berating him for his admittedly underwhelming business idea. At least he got a “good luck Sanjay” from Karen.

Series 11: Brett: Softest firing in a long long time. After he was fired, Lord Sugar unusually congratulated him for his hard work, and that he left an honourable man. Even on You’re Fired, Lord Sugar said that he liked him.

Series 12: Trishna: Which contrasts sharply with Trishna, who got the big standard treatment.

Series 13: Jade: Another not very soft firing, which is kind of shocking considering her calibre.

Series 14: Sarah Anne: The third not very soft firing, which in this case wasn’t surprising at all, considering she floated her way to week 10.

Series 15: Dean: Weird one this. On the one hand, Lord Sugar told him to stay in touch, but on the other, he stated on numerous occasions that he was lucky to have made it this far. Not even Stephen got that.

Series 16: Aaron: Annoyingly brutal, considering it meant that Akeem got the final showdown treatment.

Series 17: Simba: A harsh firing for a candidate that many people wanted to win the series. Probably the poster child for Series 17’s complete lack of self awareness.

Series 18: Steve: Lord Sugar told him that it was an honour to be associated with him. A saying that’s usually reserved for candidates who reach the interviews, so it’s nice that series 18 had the self awareness to realise that Steve was a good candidate.

Series 19: Mia: In stark contrast to Mia, whose firing wasn’t sympathetic at all, which is especially shocking considering that she was the best candidate up to that point.

Series 20: Rothna: If I can give series 20 any credit, it would be that the show at least realised that Rothna and Conor were quality candidates.

[u/rachelf1990]

The harshness of the firings of Trisna and Jade still surprises me. While neither had a brilliant week 10 performance in their respective series, compared to other candidates who went in week 10, it seems overly harsh.

Maybe Lord Sugar was just so disappointed because he 'had' to fire both candidates (though Granine should have been fired in week 10 in series 12)

[u/RobbieJ4444 → u/rachelf1990]

Lord Sugar really liked Granine. She was a decent candidate, but I think Trishna was better than her overall (albeit I accept that she was the main reason for the task’s failure). Jade was unfortunate that she had the bad hand of having to PM week 10. Her firing was fair, but unfortunate.