Lord Sugar fired two Apprentice candidates in a shock twist in tonight's second episode of the series, axing one hopeful even before they got the chance to defend themselves in the final boardroom.
The new 20-candidate format means multiple firings will be common place in the new series and this evening's wearable tech challenge ended up being the end of the road for Robert Goodwin and Scott McCulloch.
The boys' team, who were led by Scott, failed to get any orders for their camera jumper from any of the three major retailers. The girls managed to flog 250 units of their suit jacket that had flashing lights, solar panel shoulder pads, a heating system and a phone charging facility.
After the results were read out, Lord Sugar didn't even give Robert the chance to defend his performance, firing him immediately for shirking the opportunity of being project manager.
Sugar told him at the start of the episode to take a lead on the task, but he opted to ignore his advice.
"I get the funny feeling we're going to get finger pointing at one particular individual, Robert, for not taking up the project manager's position and it would be an easy way out for everybody to be saying Robert this and Robert that," said Sugar.
"So I'm going to make that much easier for everyone - Robert, I don't like people who bottle out. So Robert - you're fired."
He added: "I'm not going to mess about, this kind of deadwood is out as soon as possible."
Scott attempted to save himself by bringing back Daniel Lassman and Solomon Akhtar, but Sugar decided that his leadership was ultimately to blame for their disastrous efforts.
"I have to say Scott, you did not lead this team. There is no good just taking the job as the project manager then afterwards sulking when nobody agrees with your idea and then washing your hands of it," said Sugar. "And for that reason Scott, you're fired."
The Apprentice continues next Wednesday (October 22) at 9pm on BBC One.
