First look at candidates for The Apprentice
We have our CEO, we have our advisors, and now we have our contestants – sorry, candidates – the 16 people who will vie for a job with Mortgage King Mike Pero in TVNZ’s reboot of The Apprentice.
There isn’t an adult in the Western World naive about what happens to those who go on a reality show: talent and achievements, even if they are ostensibly what the show is about, are less important than how the production can manipulate personalities to fit the available roles – goodies, baddies, too-mean, too-nice, the weak, the hard, the winners, the losers.
So, with that in mind, what are they like, these 16 butchers, bakers; candlestick-makers?
(Kidding, kidding; they’re social media agency heads (three), beauty and fashion brand founders (two), luxury travel specialists (two), a beverage marketer, a sneaker customiser, and, in a startling stand-out, a mental health clinician.)
Nicole Spicer is the founder of swimwear brand Zingiber and, per TVNZ’s press kit, divides her time between Auckland, Perth, and Bali.
She credits her success to holding herself accountable.
And mood boards.
The production’s setting her up to be the one that’s forthright, ambitious, and cut-throat.
You can tell because they run quotes like this: ‘‘Don’t tell people about your goals; just get out there and do it’’ – and also because she’s photographed wearing a very short, leatherlook trench coat, and seemingly little else. That’s how ruthless women dress, don’t you know.
Tourism company head Olivia Rogers has the season’s tragic backstory. Her ambition, we are told in the press materials, ‘‘stems from her father’s alcoholism and gambling’’, and she stands by the motto ‘‘if we become victim to them, they beat us’’.
Bari Samadi, described as a beverage company marketing
manager (it’s canned water company WaiLife), came to New Zealand as a refugee from Afghanistan. At 40, he’s the oldest of the men. He has a very high quiff. His Instagram feed is full of photos of himself at the gym, and in the photo TVNZ has supplied, he appears to be trying to squeeze himself into a suit jacket that’s one size too small.
Vanessa Goodson is one of the event company heads. The things she does not want messed with are her time, money, and lashes. She describes herself as ‘‘a manifesting machine’’.
It’s sort of sad, really. Unlike most other competitive reality shows, The Apprentice doesn’t cast ambitious amateurs in need of a leg-up in their dream industry, be that music (Popstars), fashion (Project Runway), or restaurants (MasterChef).
No, these 16 candidates are already, all of them, extremely accomplished people in their own rights. Most of them are running their own companies, and many of them aged under 35. They’re not just smart and ambitious, they’re already successful.
That’s not what will be important on the show, however.
So what’s in it for the candidates?
Well, every single one of them, win or lose, will walk away with a higher public profile, and a stronger ‘‘personal brand’’ – vital to 21st century entrepreneurs. And the winner will get a $50,000 investment in their business. That’s nothing to sneeze at.
Maybe the fact of the matter is that reality TV has become an important tool in building a successful enterprise.
There’s always further to go, though. After all, eventually someone will need to replace Mike Pero in the CEO’s seat.
The Apprentice Aotearoa screens on TVNZ 1 from Monday, May 10