The Apprentice: Task Five – Fashion

Having said that, it really could have been any of them last night and I think if Paloma hadn’t said ‘can I just say one more thing’ and gone off on a tirade, she may well have survived another week. She really did shot herself in the foot. 
Had she not piped up, I’m pretty sure Lord Sugar would have dismissed Alex. Last night’s task showed that he was great at putting ideas forward but as soon as they don’t work, he’s happy to point the blame at someone else and avoid responsibility. 
However credit where credit’s due – he played a blinder by getting the TV crew to film an advert to be played in the food hall – a really great piece of marketing initiative. I think his main problem is his character – I’m just not sure whether or not the other candidates take him seriously. It’s almost like people are nice to him just out of courtesy, rather than actually believing in him – which is a shame from his point of view because the ideas are there. 
The problems for Alex started early on in lasts nights’ task – when in front of the cameras Paloma obviously set him up for a fall. It was so obvious and the other candidates picked up on this too. As far as Paloma was concerned – if they didn’t win the task, it was Alex’s fault. 
When they entered the board room Paloma put up a valiant defense of Sandeesh too – which left me shocked when she decided to bring her in face the chop. She didn’t shine but at the same time, didn’t put a foot wrong . However as soon as she was questioned by Lord Sugar about Alex’s role in the task, she fell right into a trap and admitted she agreed the failure was all Alex’s fault. A Lord Sugar classic where he led her into the question and she just agreed with him. 
In previous episodes, Paloma has stood out as a real bitch – however, as team leader she seemed calm, collected and did quite well, only loosing by £500. The real error was not securing the right deal and ending up with selling expensive jumble sale items! Although Chris did really well in making a third of profits from that collection in just one sale – especially as it looked like some sort of duvet! 
It was a closely fought task with positives for both teams last night. The task was lost on Paloma and her sub team not securing the deal for the sparkling dresses – which we’re well priced and perfect for the Manchester market; especially with girls buying dresses for a Saturday night on the town. 
Overall the highlight of last night’s episode was Nick’s comment about Stella! It was an absolute classic line when he said her display in the shop window reminded him more of Amsterdam than Manchester! Ha ha brilliant! 
We’re now into the final ten and my top five choices are still in the mix. I think Alex and Sandeesh should take a leaf out of Stuart and Joanna’s leaf moving forward. After early run ins with Lord Sugar and other contestants, they seem to be getting their acts together. 
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