Cruel viewers making Lord Sugar look sweet
It feels like yesterday when I was sweating in the boardroom on the first series of The Apprentice, 14 years ago. So it was crazy sitting down to watch series 15 this week – and it made my heart sink.
The show has changed. It’s Lord Sugar not Sir Alan, and the prize is £250,000 for a 50 per cent stake in your business, not a job.
But the biggest change is the audience’s reaction, as Lottie Lion found out this week, when she received death threats and cruel trolling for clashing with other women on her team.
Teenager Lottie says she knew she was going to be projected into the limelight. It is a big show with lots of water cooler moments.
While my tasks were always in London, this lucky lot were sent to South Africa to organise a tour. A simple selling task – negotiate, buy, sell and make a profit.
But as the episode went on to reveal, it doesn’t matter where you put a bunch of big egos, they will stay true to form.
And it was the women I felt most let down by, probably because I expected more.
What is wrong with these millennials? They look the part – make-up, nail extensions and high-powered suits – but jeez, they were dull.
Not Lottie the librarian, at least. I was 32 when I was runner- up on the show. Lottie is just 19 – and smashing the librar ian stereotypes. She created some spark on the women’s team. And there was (dare I say it) a hint of former Apprentice Katie Hopkins. Although, like Katie, she needs to learn when to listen – especially when the experts are talking.
You do need a sense of chutzpah and confidence to run your own business. But what I saw from the rest was depressing.
It took four of them to pluck up the courage to sell a cut-price ticket to their luxury wine tour. I’d have fired them for the totally impractical high heels alone. They were not all working towards a shared goal, which was to beat the boys. You do that by pulling together – you watch each other’s backs, not stab them at every opportunity.
Being aggressive, dominant, boastful and trying to benefit from your teammates’ failings is not the way to be a good leader in business.
You have to work hard and be informed, not moan and do a job half-cocked.
It made me want to ring Lord Sugar and ask if I could have another go. I may be nearly 50 but I’d give them a good run for their money.
TV is all about engagement. But while I yelled at my screen, I wouldn’t dream of firing off death threats.
However it seems some idiot viewers see these candidates as villains. And now they have the easy means to attack, sending vile messages before the credits have even rolled.
Lord Sugar and his boardroom henchmen should be the scariest thing on The Apprentice.
Not the viewers.