The Apprentice: Adam Corbally's half term report for the final eight candidates
Voted the best ever candidate by RadioTimes.com users, Apprentice becomes teacher as Adam marks the performances of this year's remaining Sugarbabes
Adam Corbally, the market trader from series eight, who you voted as your favourite Apprentice candidate of all time, says he’s loving the current run of the BBC1 business reality show.
For Adam, this series has seen the boardroom come into its own – Karren Brady’s giving candidates a dressing down and Lord Sugar’s biting back at some of the outlandish claims.
So, at the halfway stage, what does Adam think of the remaining candidates all vying for Lord Sugar’s attention? He has some strong opinions.
But who did he call "a pint-sized toff"? Who "lets women down"? Who's "a James Bond type"? And who's growing on Adam, "like a horrible beard"?
Read on to find out – and see how Adam ranks each candidate out of 10…
Alex Mills
"I think he’s brilliant. You’ve got to remember he might look 40, but he’s only 22. When he said that, I was like what, in vampire years? The guy’s got more look-alikes than Elvis Presley (Dracula, Freddie Mercury, the dummy from Airplane) but the guy is pure entertainment.
"Will he win it? I don’t think he’s got a cat in hell's chance, I really don’t. But he’s used the platform to showcase himself and I personally think he’s the most straightforward and straight talking of all of them."
Mark: A-
Francesa MacDuff-Varley
"First and foremost what strikes you about Francesca is she’s the spitting image of former candidate Stella English. For me, she’s a dead ringer for her. Let’s hope, if she does go through and wins it – which I think she’s quite capable of to be honest – she doesn’t bite the hand that feeds her [Stella famously took Lord Sugar to court over her role in his company].
"She’s played a clever game, she’s kept her head down. But I like people who get stuck in. Lord Sugar knew who I was and what I was about from week one. If she doesn’t come out of her shell more, she’s going to end up a tortoise."
Mark: C+
Jason Leech
"Jason, I know the nation have sort of taken to him in this motherly sort of way – me personally, I totally don’t get it. I think it’s all some sort of very bad amateur dramatic performance every time he goes on camera.
"For me, Jason was never worthy of a place in the process. I’ve not got a problem with educated people at all, I've got respect for educated people, but the fact that the guy is still in full-time education, he’s never actually done a day’s work in his life, it’s an absolute joke.
"He’s not an underdog, he doesn’t fit that category. He’s useless."
Mark: D+
Jordan Poulton
"I can’t stand anything about him. I really can’t. Pint-sized toff. I can’t wait for someone else to get fired, and I don’t want it to be him, only because then there’ll be enough room for him to sit at the boardroom table and see if he’s big enough to see over the desk to see Lord Sugar.
"He’s like Luisa’s little lap dog. What do I like about Jordan? I don’t like anything about Jordan."
Score: F
Leah Totton
"Leah! Dr Gorgeous. Beautiful girl. But is she all pout and no clout? Yeah – that’s what you gotta ask. She spends a lot of time pouting, spends a lot of time looking great. She started off looking strong, but she seems to have gone to Dr Deaf.
"But at the moment, as poor Kirk said, she’s just eye candy. It’s not good when your team member is bringing you over because you’re eye candy.
"Hopefully she does well. She just needs to spend less time pouting and more time getting stuck in. Her lips seem to be getting bigger each week, don’t they? Everytime I look at her she’s like puckering up.
"But I think she could definitely get to the final – she’s a good blend of everything. She’s looked after herself in the boardroom. She’s not taking things personally. She seems very clinical. She’s sticking to the facts and Lord Sugar likes that."
Score: B+
Luisa Zissman
"She’s a right sort. ‘Luisa the male pleaser’ – she thinks she can flutter her eyelashes and get away with anything – and she can with the likes of Jordan.
"I think she’s got the most whiney voice I’ve ever heard, no substance. Fair play at least she’s got stuck in, she’s tried. But at the moment she just seems to be trying to wrap people around her little finger. I personally think she lets women down really, to be honest.
"I don’t personally think she’s going to come anywhere near winning it. I think she’s just playing all the lads as far as she can get and hopefully keeping herself out of the boardroom that way. To get fired you have to end up in the boardroom first and the game she’s playing is to keep all the lads sweet."
Score: E
Myles Mordaunt
"I think he’s brilliant to be honest. He’s a good looking guy, washboard stomach, lives in Monaco, dealt with royalty. I think he’s calm, I think he’s collected. He’s a James Bond type – a true English gent.
"He’s come up with good ideas, made himself accountable. For me he’s the favourite. He’s gonna win it. At this stage, I think he should win.
"He’s that kind of guy – you just know he’s good at sport. If you went bodyboarding, he’d go surfboarding – he’s that kind of guy."
Score: A
Neil Clough
"‘Niewl’ as Lord Sugar calls him – Lord Sugar thinks he’s got a ‘w’ in his name doesn’t he? He needs to sort his beard out – it’s like some sort of rug that seems to have taken over his face. It’s like chest hair that seems to have exploded all over his face.
"There’s a fine line between cockiness and confidence. There should also be a fine line between where your beard stops and your chest hair starts.
"I'm still trying to work out whether he’s deluded or overly confident. He started off like a bull in a china shop. Since then he has done a couple of brilliant things. He’s rounded up the troops quite well. He’s the kind of guy that you either love or hate. He’s certainly one of the lads.
"He’s growing on me, like a horrible beard.
"He’ll definitely reach the final – he’s got that sort of personality. I don’t think he’s going to win. I think he’s too much for Lord Sugar."
Score: B+
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