Latest contestant fired as Lord Sugar mocks ‘boring’ branding in The Apprentice

Lord Alan Sugar has criticised the losing teams’ branding as “boring” and said their TV advert “looks like a 10-year-old made it”, before his latest firing in The Apprentice.

The 78-year-old said he trusted his “gut feeling” as he sacked pharmacist Roxanne Hamedi on the BBC One business-themed reality show after her poor decisions led to her team losing the episode’s task.

At the beginning of the episode, each team was tasked with creating a brand of bottled water which they had to sell live on social media, and also had to make an accompanying TV advert.

The episode also featured a cameo from rapper Big Zuu, who helped to judge the work created by the candidates as he owns a sustainable canned water brand.

Business owner Conor Galvin stepped up as team leader of Team Alpha, who lost the task after Lord Sugar deemed their advert “boring”, adding that it “looks like a 10-year-old made it on his iPhone”.

Meanwhile, businesswoman Karishma Vijay led Team Eclipse to victory with an advert starring teammate Kieran McCartney shirtless and boxing.

During the boardroom meeting at the end of the episode, the losing team bickered after their idea for a water brand aimed at commuters instead seemed aimed at explorers, with imagery of the North, mountains and a compass.

Lord Sugar said: “The logo looks like a road sign on the M6. North has gone south, obviously.”

He added: “What you’ve achieved is you’ve made tap water look exciting.”

Lord Sugar also criticised Team Alpha for “not doing research”, as they criticised canned water and called it “rubbish” in front of a judging panel consisting of two owners of canned water brands.

At the end of the episode, Lord Sugar told Hamedi: “Roxanne, I think you have a lot to answer to.

“My gut feeling is that Roxanne, you’re fired.”

He went on to say he likes Galvin’s “spirit and determination”, adding that he needs to focus in future tasks.

Hamedi, from Aberdeen, was sacked after Lord Sugar blamed her “very, very poor” branding for her team’s loss.

She said: “I’m sad that Lord Sugar didn’t believe in me, but I back myself 100%. I’ve got a lucrative business and I can’t wait to prove Lord Sugar wrong.”

Hamedi would have expanded her business, a beauty brand specialising in combatting hair loss, if she had won the programme.

The winner of the latest series of The Apprentice will be awarded £250,000 of investment into their company and the opportunity to go into business with Lord Sugar.

The Apprentice returns on BBC One next Thursday at 9pm.