Phil Turner came out of The Apprentice empty-handed and Lord Alan Sugar’s snub comes as no surprise.
The pie company owner was one of the 18 ambitious entrepreneurs keen to win the mogul over with his Sussex-based pie shop in the hopes of bagging his £250k investment to turn his growing family business into a profitable brand.
Upon his debut, the father-of-two underlined his strong family values, claiming his hardworking parents, from whom he had bought his pie business, were his “biggest inspiration” - looking back on his journey after Thursday’s final, one viewer deemed this as proof he was a “nepo baby”, a term referring to a person who has "piggybacked" off their family’s success without earning their own stripes. But that wasn't the only criticism of the Bognor Regis native.
Phil Turner lost Lord Alan Sugar's investment to gym bunny Rachel Woolford (PA)
But Phil's loss only makes sense after weeks of losses, and conflict (PA)A bad track record
After dodging the first firing, Phil kicked off week two of the competition by taking on the role of project manager but his all-male team weren't able to win their cheesecake-making challenge and a long string of losses quickly followed.
While his biggest challengers in the reality series were slowly revealing themselves one victory after another - from recruitment consultant Flo Edwards to dentist Paul Midha (both of whom followed him and Rachel into the semi-final ) - Phil struggled, winding up in the losing team week after week.
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Unfortunately for him, this earned him the ire of TV watchers as they grew increasingly frustrated with his presence in the program. "How is that useless Phil Turner still on The Apprentice with 8/8 losses? The 2007/08 Derby County of apprentice candidates," one furiously questioned.
Phil's losing streak continued throughout the competition until Lord Sugar, determined to understand why the contestant always wound up on the brink of elimination, issued him with an ultimatum ahead of the semi-final. And the pressure seemed to do the trick - Phil walked into the final with a total of nine losses and one victory, infuriating The Apprentice viewers.
"Still a scandal to have Phil Turner there. Flo and Tre for the final," one TV viewer commented. Elsewhere, one person chimed in: "Had a The Apprentice catch-up marathon this weekend. Phil. Total fix." Another raged: "Phil in the final wtf!? If he wins he’d be the worst winner ever!? Surely Rachel has to win!!"
“How has Phil got into the final two on #TheApprentice ?? How did Flo NOT get there? Phil is The worst performing candidate all series! This is a joke and makes a mockery of the process & mocks the patience & loyalty of viewers who’ve spent 11 hours watching this,” another fan fumed.
Drama king
While his track record on The Apprentice was far from the most glowing (let’s remember Phil lost track of his own company accounts for six months), perhaps the biggest reason why Phil did not deserve to win over Rachel Woolford was his attitude.
Tensions noticeably emerged for the first time during week five of the competition, as Phil's team - Flo, Paul, Virdi Mazaria, Sam Saadet, Maura Rath and Onyeka Nweze - were challenged to launch their own Formula E team and failed to get the sponsorship they were tasked to secure.
While the winning team celebrated their victory with some indoor skydiving, the losing team geared up for the next firing, prompting Flo to squash a conflict with the baker after the pair previously locked horns. But taking accountability and apologising were not part of Phil’s plans. "It doesn't surprise me at all that Flo is trying to chuck me under the bus," he said once away from his group. "Smart, but it's a bit dishonest and it won't get her very far.”
What could have been a simple disagreement in a time of stress shone a light on Phil's blame-shifting tactics, which he turned into a habit as the competition drew to an explosive close. No later than the following week, Phil was called out by both Sam and Flo for making their passionfruit-flavoured cereal, Polar Crunch, lack taste. Once again, Phil dodged all blame, despite calling the shots in the kitchen and going against the expert advice.
The discord culminated into another heated exchange for Phil as he butted heads with Sam again in front of Lord Sugar, before eventually taking the blame for Polar Crunch’s lack of flavour. However, he still had to face consequences - Sam made Phil stay behind in the boardroom soon after, to face consequences for his “disruptive behaviour,” deeming him “a control freak.”
Phil’s continued lack of solidarity with his female teammates continued, while Flo was one of the rare ones to stand up to him, making her another favourite for the final alongside Rachel and Tre Lowe - and an easy target for Phil.
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Week nine’s challenge went south for the pair when he disengaged from their TV shopping task, allowing Flo to take the lead - before throwing her under the bus in the boardroom. The sneaky move saw Phil slapped with the “sexist” label as one angry viewer called him out and begged for him to be fired. “How did I just notice how pathetically sexist Phil is?! I'm raging,” one fan commented. “Phil should have gone too. Flo is great... and wanted him fired!!”
Flo Edwards (far right) was one of the rare ones to hold her ground when met with Phil's abrasive behaviour (BBC)Read more similar news:
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