Alan Sugar named the winner of his latest series of The Apprentice last night, with the winner gaining a £250,000 investment in a business start-up. Warning! Spoiler Alert!
The final four were subject to four interviews each by Sugar's ruthless advisors, including Claude Littner, Mike Soutar, Matthew Riley and a familiar face on the show, Margaret Mountford.
Mountford returned to the series to grill the four contestants before hearing their fate
The four finalists - Tom Gearing, Ricky Martin, Jade Nash and Nick Holzherr - were the subject of a two hour-long finale last night and 26 year-old recruitment manager Martin emerged victorious.
Martin received high criticism during his four interviews, with most noting his 'arrogance' as a weakness, while Claude Littner claimed Martin's personal statement was "crass, obnoxious and infantile" yet when speaking to Lord Sugar proclaimed he was 'mesmerised' by the man.
Jade, Tom, Ricky and Nick with their business plans
29 year-old Jade Nash was the first of the final four to be eliminated, followed by 25 year-old Nick Holzherr. That left 23 year-old Tom Gearing, looking for an investment in a fine wine hedge fund, and Ricky Martin, seeking an investment in a sustainable recruitment agency for technical staff, to battle it out in the boardroom.
Ultimately Sugar proclaimed Gearing was a 'high-risk investment' and decided to stick to his guns and go with a 'safe bet' and go into business with Martin.
Sugar, advised by Karen Brady and Nick Hewer, ultimately decided to take the safer bet
Upon winning, Martin said "Lord Sugar and I are going to be a powerful force to reckon with. I can’t say I’ve digested it yet". When questioned on The Apprentice: You're Fired by Dara O'Briain, he said "I’m ecstatic. Genuine shock, I’m so so pleased".
"Tom is incredible at what he does, great competition but I believed in myself, I thought I always I had it in me and I proved it" Martin said to O'Briain.
The Apprentice will return to BBC in 2013, with The Young Apprentice returning to screens later this year.
