on our screens, with Sir Alan, Nick and Margaret all in fine form. In the end, the final five were exceptionally strong and there were a number of crazy personalities throughout the series, which made it so memorable.Yasmina [above] was a worthy winner, although I was a bit disappointed the job didn’t go to Kate after she put in such a great performance on many tasks, and because I had predicted she would win before the series had even started (!). Admittedly, however, Yasmina is the one who had already created a successful business from scratch, and Sir Alan probably saw some of himself in her.
There have been numerous big personalities on the show this series. Philip was a great candidate at the start, but then went from hero to zero as he started to bully other candidates (mostly Lorraine) and concentrate more of his time on flirting with Kate. He was the loudmouth Geordie of the series and will be forever remembered for the ‘Pantsman’ project which had nothing to do with breakfast cereals whatsoever.
Then we have Ben. What a great man for moments of television gold - “let me finish” - and a wonderful addition to this series. Didn’t he get offered a scholarship to Sandhurst or something? According to one of my friends who is the Army cadets, this is not actually much of an achievement at all, as all you have to do is pass an exam. But the fact he was so ignorant and amazed with his brilliance all of the time made for great viewing.
I was disappointed when Rocky went early in on the show, but when you are a sandwich businessman and you fail on a sandwich task, there is no excuse. He was unfairly treated in the boardroom when Sir Alan referenced his injury at Middlesbrough FC in the firing speech, but was just not good enough unfortunately. If he had done better in that task, he could have gone far.
Debra presented herself well towards the end, compared to the usual bossy and arrogant woman we found throughout the series. But she really seemed to have changed by the end and I was pleased to see this. She reminded me somewhat of Lee McQueen from Series Four, but at the age of 23 she can be proud of third place. I certainly would not want to work with her though!
Anyway, onto the winner. I don’t think Yasmina performed as well as she could have done with the chocolates, but Sir Alan had made up his mind before then. Kate was a strong competitor, but maybe she was too linear and did not seem to take enough risks or be unpredictable as Sir Alan often likes. I wish Yasmina well in her role in Sir Alan’s business, and I’m sure she will do very well. I bet Kate will easily get a job from another employer anyway, so everyone’s a winner!
