It's been a long and tiring 11 weeks for the final five The Apprentice 2024 candidates. From early morning wake-ups to giving all they've got in an eccentric task set by Lord Alan Sugar, there are now just two hopefuls left after tonight's episode – which saw a triple firing like no other.
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As ever, it was the iconic interview episode. Claudine Collins, Linda Plant, Mike Soutar and Claude Littner were ready to hear what the candidates had to say about the business plan and one candidate who stood out was Dr Paul Midha. His plan was a scrubs business, something the interviewers were unsure of based on Paul's experience as a cosmetic dentist.
This was fed back to Lord Sugar, who hoped Paul might change his business plan – and that he did. In just 12 hours, in case it wasn't mentioned enough.
As Lord Sugar went back and forth with Paul, the business mogul asked: "Can I just make it clear we are talking about a 50 per cent partnership with you for a quarter of a million pounds?"
When Paul clarified it would be a partnership in a second practice and not the existing first one, Lord Sugar made the decision to fire him
Paul Midha. BBC/FremantleMedia Ltd
In an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com, Paul revealed why he wasn't prepared to budge on the potential offer.
He explained: "At the end of the day, it is a process, but this is my life as well and I had to do what was right from a business sense, from a commercial sense [and] from a personal sense as well.
"If I were to take in that deal and I went home and my family have seen the journey and the struggles that I've been on to get to where I am, I know they would have been disappointed and heartbroken if I would have taken that deal because I would have been devaluing myself."
Reflecting on the offer he pitched, Paul admitted that he felt it was "good" and revealed that there was a third option that didn't air on screens.
The fired candidate told RadioTimes.com: "[It] was, we'll create our own dental practice from scratch. It's called Squat Dental Practice [and it] costs about 200-250 grand to do a three-surgery dental practice.
"But he said he wanted it all. I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it no matter how much I wanted to. So I hope I haven't disappointed the UK public. I hope they can understand my decision. And thank you so much for the love they [have] shown me so far."
The Apprentice final airs at 9pm on Thursday 18th April on BBC One and iPlayer.
Katelyn Mensah is the Entertainment and Factual Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
