BBC The Apprentice viewers plead for answers as Lord Sugar saves ‘rubbish’ candidate: ‘Again?’
The Apprentice fans were left bewildered by Alan Sugar’s decision in the latest episode to save Dean Franklin.
Viewers have argued Franklin has somehow “dodged” being fired by the business magnate on several occasions, with Sugar warning the air conditioning company owner he was on thin ice after he reached his decision in Thursday’s episode.
The ninth challenge of the series saw Sugar tasking the candidates with TV shopping sales, a fan favourite of the long-running series.
Half of each team was responsible for broadcasting items to the nation, while the other half worked behind-the-scenes to direct those selling.
While both teams suffered some cringe-worthy moments, Dean’s group ended up back in the boardroom.
During the task, he’d clashed with project manager Max England as they worked from behind the camera together.
They were brought back to the boardroom along with Chisola Chitambala, but the latter was able to breath a sigh of relief towards the end as Sugar declared it would “unfair” to fire her following her efforts in the task.
England was scolded for opting for niche products viewers didn’t want, and admitted: “that wasn’t the right product selection in hindsight”.
“Dean – chaotic in the gallery, didn’t speak up at product selection,” Sugar pointed out to the contestant.
“I don’t believe I was that disruptive,” Franklin argued, adding: “I was pushing the buttons, trying to make things happen.”
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He added boldly: “I’m not frightened to do something different. If it’s going to make a sale or make a change.”
After taking aim at England, the project manager hit back: “Look Dean, if you were going to do such a good job, why didn’t you fight harder to be project manager?”
“I don’t know why you got chosen as project manager,” Franklin confessed.
During their row, Sugar silenced the two and eventually fired England. However, he went on to warn Franklin to take the incident as a “severe warning”.
He had pointed out as he came to his decision that Franklin had been in the bottom three “three times on the trot”.
However, he opted to hold England “accountable and responsible,” before eliminating him from the process.
Baffled fans soon took to social media to question the decision, with many demanding answers as to why Franklin was saved.
One X user wrote: “Lord Sugar should’ve fired Dean straight away like he did to Nadia… #TheApprentice.”
“Dean has been slipping, sliding and just about dodged at least two firings #TheApprentice,” another commented.
A third asked: “Has Dean got some dirt on Sugar?! How has he evaded the sack again! He is rubbish. #TheApprentice.”
“Max gets fired by Lord Sugar, yet Dean has survived for another week again. #TheApprentice,” another complained.
“Dean through again, how on earth #TheApprentice,” someone else asked, with another sharing: “Dean has been getting away with this all series. #theapprentice.”
Another posted: “Nah Dean is one lucky b*****d. He should have been fired #TheApprentice.” (sic)