Lord Alan Sugar fires third ‘Apprentice’

Michael Copp became the first male candidate to be fired from this year’s Apprentice after he failed to impress Lord Alan Sugar in a condiment task.

Copp, Katie Wright and Ricky Martin ended up in the boardroom after team Phoenix’s ‘Belissimo’ ketchup only sold 305 bottles, compared to team Sterling’s 607 jars of chutney.

Duane Bryan’s winning team earned a trip to the race cars at Silverstone, while the losers were forced to defend the flop produce and argue over the problems in the Losers’ Cafe.

Sugar was highly critical of project manager Wright and production line leader Martin’s efforts on the task, but appeared to take a dislike to Copp’s complaints in the boardroom that he wasn’t as educated or “born with a silver spoon” like other candidates.

“I don’t care where you come from, I don’t care whether you got a 2:1 at Oxford or Cambridge or you’re just a streetwise person. That doesn’t bother me at all,” said Sugar.

Attacking Copp, Martin commented: “You’ve sat on the fence more times than I’ve had hot dinners Michael.”

Sugar’s final verdict on who was to blame for the task failure came down to an “instinctive gut feeling”, telling Copp that he didn’t believe he could “hack it” in the competition.

Speaking in the black cab home, Copp said: “I’m feeling a little bit frustrated with myself that I didn’t represent myself to the best that I could have. At the end of the day I’ve got a successful business outside of this so I know what I’ve actually achieved already in life. The future’s bright for me.”