The Apprentice nasty and two-faced

Regardless of how flat, brutal, good or bad the news is, every once in a while a columnist will find themselves completely uninspired. So they’ll end up scraping the bottom of the barrel in an effort to find something they can get their fangs into.

This week it was my turn and what I unfortunately scraped out very nearly turned my stomach, such was the rancid pile of twisted humanity facing me. It really was the stuff of nightmares, and after two minutes of stunned silence I was ranting and reaching for the remote. And what an epic rant it was. If Sir Alex’s tirades are compared to hairdryers then this one was a high octane-fuelled drag racer engine.

And the name of this televised aberration?

What else but The Apprentice one of the most divisive reality shows ever to have graced our screens.

What was once an intelligent, inspirational and well thought out competitive series that had you hanging on Lord Sugar’s every word has now become nothing more than a poor parody of the original.

Gone from our screens are the eager, fresh-faced budding entrepreneurs desperate for a chance in life. Instead we’re now faced with a miscreant bunch of nasty, spoiled, two-faced, vacuous brats desperate to stick the boot into each other. Honestly, it’s like watching the modern day equivalent of bear baiting, except none of them knows from one week to the next who’ll be the bear and who’ll be part of the rabid pack.

As for Lord Sugar, if playing the villain is now part of his persona then I suggest he joins the local amateur dramatic society for their next panto!

The difference between this show and BBC Two’s excellent documentary, The Entrepreneurs, is night and day and I don’t just say that because I briefly featured in an episode.

Here we see budding entrepreneurs mentored and encouraged by business greats like Sir Willie Haughey, where the applicants are trained and funded, shown the pitfalls in business, educated in how to present themselves to a bank or investor, and advised how to sell their business to potential clients. All that and much, much more.

It was a programme set over months where the applicants were taught the skills and attributes required in the REAL cut and thrust world of business.

The Entrepreneurs showed positively what can be achieved in business when the spirit of enterprise is embraced, encouraged and properly funded.

As for the Apprentice well that dross should be thrown back into the rotten barrel from where it came and the lid firmly screwed shut.

Lord Sugar . . . you’re fired!