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Jenny and Jennifer are fired from The Apprentice |
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Written by Telly Addict
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Thursday, 08 May 2008 |
It was not a good week to be called Jennifer as Sir Alan Sugar fired both Jenny C and Jennifer from The Apprentice
Week seven saw the candidates whisked off to Morocco for a two day business trip. Sir Alan Sugar has provided both teams with a list of ten very specific items which they must barter and bargain for in a French-speaking Marrakesh souk. Incorrect items will incur a hefty fine, but the team which successfully completes the task for the smallest sum will win. "Watch out," warns Sir Alan. "This is the bargaining capital of the world and they will have you for breakfast." Let the shopping begin...
This week Sir Alan stayed in London while Margaret and Nick are with the teams in Marrakesh. Sir Alan picks Lee McQueen to head up Alpha, made up of Sara, Helene, Raef and Lucinda and picks Jenny Maguire to lead Renaissance with fellow teammates Michael, Alex, Jenny C and Claire.
Sir Alan's shopping list of ten items is:
A mosque shaped alarm clock in green
A cream Berber bedspread with silver sequins
Grey slippers
Santos orange juicer
A blue cactus (specified height)
Large cowhide with tail attached
Kosher chicken
Dye
3 red Akal branded tagines
2 tennis racquets, medium strung
Jennifer is raring to go. With Sir Alan's all-important shopping list in hand, she splits Renaissance into two crack negotiating teams. With just shopping to do, she doesn't see the need for much preparation.
Lee, however, is keen to blend in with the locals. He asks his resident Marrakesh expert, Raef, for pointers. "Getting into the local garb and not standing out will help", he offers. Quite how Raef in particular is going to do that no one seems quite sure.
Before they go into the souk, Lee's team does some research, calling ahead to discover the best places to visit. After previous negative feedback, he keeps Lucinda and Sara close by his side. With tasks duly allocated, the Alpha team aim to source all items before leaving their leafy hotel.
As trading begins, team tactics from Renaissance include asking Claire and Alex to do a married couple role play. It doesn't work well. Alex feels Claire costs him his advantage when she wails, "I'd rather buy it here, my feet are killing me," mid-negotiation. Meanwhile, Jenny C and Michael travel north to buy a cowhide. They get it for the equivalent of £50 - that's a quarter of the asking price. But in a rural tannery, Raef and Helene bag a bargain at just £15... But they do have to endure the putrid tannery smell as well.
While sourcing some items involves leg work and pleading the price down, other items on the list prove very tricky.
Sir Alan Sugar is a keen tennis player and has asked for medium strung tennis racquets. Both teams converge on the same sports shop, but as Lucinda, Sara and Lee buy their racquets, Jenny M and Michael try unsuccessfully to bribe the sales assistant to not sell them any.
Most embarrassing of all this week's gaffes, though, is the saga of the kosher chicken. While the Alpha team head over to the Jewish quarter and grab their chicken lickety-split, Renaissance must trawl the Moslem souk for hours in their quest to find the perfect bird.
Eventually Michael and Jen C find a meat counter with live birds for sale. The Muslim butcher kills one, blesses it as best he can and hands it to Michael. But that is not a kosher chicken, and it is going to ruffle a few feathers later in the day.
There are last minute scrambles for both teams as they try to get the final items. Jennifer M's team have got a white alarm clock and need to swap it for a green one. Renaissance stand in the middle of the street and, with the shops now shut for prayers, put out the word to the locals that they will pay good money for an old juicer. Amazingly, it works. And with two possible sellers they even manage to drop the price a little bit. At 6.30pm, after a long hard day down the market, the task is over. But which team has won?
Nick reveals that Alpha have spent £413.61 with no penalties. Margaret reveals Renaissance have managed to add two penalties and two disallowed items to their score, turning their £449.60 spend into a £603.59 total. Alpha are declared the winners and head back to the UK the next day with a hot air balloon trip over Leeds Castle promised as a celebratory treat.
For Renaissance, their trip back home takes them straight to the boardroom, where a very angry Sir Alan Sugar is waiting.
Sir Alan reveals that the team have racked up £155 in fines for their misadventures. The tagines they bought were not the brand that Sir Alan requested, and of course, the chicken wasn't kosher - although they did seem surprised to be pulled up about that little mistake. Sir Alan wasn't in a forgiving mood, challenging birthday girl Jen C with venom. "At 36 you've never heard of the terminology kosher and you don't know that's associated with Jewish people - I'm flabbergasted!"
Sir Alan then turned on Michael, quoting his CV description of himself as "a good Jewish boy". Michael seems fairly open to religion however, as he accepted halal meat instead of kosher produce and then crossed himself on the way into the boardroom. Sir Alan told him, "If you're unsure we can pull your trousers down and we can check".
It looks like he's had enough of Jenny C. As Jenny C fends off his questions, he tells her, "You've tried to lay the blame on your team-mates you were running around with. It's no good. Jenny, You're Fired, Goodbye..."
Learning nothing from her namesake's experience, Jennifer Maguire also chooses to attack the others rather than defend herself. She calls Claire "a Tasmanian devil" and insinuates that Michael is "a liar and cheat".
Sir Alan really doesn't like this. He tells Michael, "I can't have people in my business who lie and cheat but I think you are a bit over-enthusiastic. I have to reflect back at myself at your age, and my own over-enthusiasm".
Jenny, meanwhile, is daring Sir Alan. "If tha''s the kind of person you have in your company then fire me now". That pretty much sealed her fate, and Sir Alan says, "Most mistakes this team has made have come from someone who I believe is out of control. Jennifer, you're fired!"
Claire and Alex head back to the house, knowing they are safe for one more week.
The revelations of bribery and dishonesty have shocked all the contestants and seemingly straight-down-the-line Raef huffs, "I hope they all get fired. I think they have shown a lack of integrity". Everyone listening nods in agreement.
But when Claire and Michael rock up at the front door, there are hugs and kisses all round.
Sir Alan's hunt for his apprentice continues...
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Last Updated ( Friday, 09 May 2008 )
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