The final five Apprentice candidates are set to be interrogated by some of Lord Alan Sugar’s closest advisers after making it through to the penultimate episode.
After 10 weeks of gruelling challenges, recruitment consultant Flo Edwards, dental group owner Dr Paul Midha, pie company owner Phil Turner, boutique fitness studio owner Rachel Woolford and music and wellness entrepreneur Tre Lowe have made it through to the interview round, which will air on April 11 on BBC One.
The candidates secured their places after making it through Thursday’s episode which saw them tasked with creating a new vegan alternative to cheese that they had to pitch to major retailers.
The next challenge of series 18 will see them go head to head with business experts Claude Littner, Mike Soutar, Linda Plant and Claudine Collins.
Their business plans will be interrogated, CVs picked apart and white lies exposed as the candidates battle it out to make the final in the hope of securing Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment.
During week five of the series, Lowe led team Nexus to secure a record-breaking £38.7 million in sponsorship after the candidates were tasked with launching a new team for Formula-E, a motorsport championship for electric cars.
The group smashed the show’s previously held largest winning sales record of £1.2 million after Woolford spearheaded negotiations.
Lowe said project-managing the team to victory was “easily” his favourite week of the show and Lord Sugar hailing him as “impressive” was the “icing on a huge cake” for him.
He also admitted the competition had been “one of the hardest things” he has done but that he felt “immensely proud of myself for being incredibly resilient” and making it to the final five.
Lowe is also a producer and songwriter, and has had a number three hit, titled Body Groove, with his band the Architechs.
Leeds-based Woolford agreed that their success during Formula E week was also a highlight for her as she knows that “speaking to people and trying to sell things” is her strong point.
The boutique fitness studio owner also revealed she had found it to be a “really tough process” and that she had doubted if she would make it to the final five.
She added: “I’m really excited to be at the interviews stage and to talk about my business, and what I know best.”
London-based Edwards also said making it to the final five feels “surreal” after watching the BBC One show while growing up.
The recruitment consultant admitted she initially felt “severe imposter syndrome” at the beginning of the process due to other candidates being “exceptionally credible business owners” as she had not launched her own company at this stage.
However, after grafting through the tasks to prove herself, she feels her biggest takeaway from the show has been “learning the importance of believing and backing yourself”.
Leeds-based dentist Midha said that making it to the final five of the show was “one of the best feelings” he has ever had and a “pinnacle” life achievement moment.
“To be able to get through all ten tasks, through such a rigorous process, it was just amazing,” he added.
“I know I’m representing a lot of communities like the dental community, the Punjabi community, so to be able to lift my head up high and know that I did them proud, that was an amazing feeling.”
After a tough journey through the competition which saw him suffer nine successive losses, Bognor Regis-based pie business owner Turner said it is “really rewarding” to make it to the penultimate episode.
He added: “I feel as if I’ve probably had the toughest route to the final five that maybe any candidate has ever had. I feel really proud of myself.”
Turner also feels that his resilience following the losses helped him show how “mentally tough” he is to Lord Sugar.
“I was bouncing back with the same enthusiasm and I was never hiding”, he noted.
“I learnt exactly how much adversity I could actually face and that’s something I am extremely proud of.”
The Apprentice returns on Thursday at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
