Lord Sugar whittled down The Apprentice candidates in a triple firing, with Daniel Elahi, Sabrina Stocker and Khadija Kalifa given the boot.
The unlucky trio were cut from the competition – narrowly missing out on a place in next week’s final – after the gruelling interview stages.
Elahi, Stocker and Kalifa, along with Camilla Ainsworth and Sian Gabbidon, were put through their paces by Claude Littner, Claudine Collins, Linda Plant, and Mike Soutar during the semi-finals.
First firing, Stocker - who was talking at a mile-a-minute - was compared to a “drone” by Lord Sugar who told her that he “struggled with the scalability of her tennis events business”.
She was followed out the door by Kalifa, who admitted that her “ambitious” targets were exactly that. But it was her demeanour and “loud voice” that ultimately saw the cleaner swept away from the process.
Elahi soon found himself in hot water when his “hangover cure” was questioned, as well as being grilled on why he had lied about his product reach on his selling pages.
Lord Sugar also questioned Elahi’s laidback attitude, branding him a “fly boy” and questioned whether they would make good business partners.
He said: “When you’re investing in a business, you’re investing in a person. I can’t invest in you.”
Seething in the taxi, Elahi ranted: “I’m gutted. I was in this process to win it and would have loved to been his business partner.
“I think he’s made a bad decision, he’s going to wake up with a hangover as a consequence of this but best of luck to the girls…”
Ainsworth – with her nut milk plan – and Gabbidon, with her swimsuit brand, will battle it out in the final.
The Apprentice concludes Sunday December 16 at 9pm on BBC One.
