Well it was going to happen. With so many hospitality-based apprentices vying for just one coveted, six-figure job with Sir Alan Sugar, one of them was going to get the bullet sooner or later. But did it have to happen in a contract catering-based contest?
The short answer is yes. As soon as The Apprentice hinted last week that this week's task was going to be catering-based, it was obvious that one of our hospitality hopefuls was going to stick their hand in the air. Yasmina stepped forward for the girls and Rocky opted to lead the boys.
The task itself - to provide sandwiches for a contract catering firm at lunch and a canape reception for 50 that evening - wasn't the most taxing catering jobs I've seen. And while Rocky's food looked slightly more appealing, with cute little tricks such as food flowing out of the end of wraps, Yasmina, a restaurateur, cut costs, and sometimes corners, to such an extent that some of her wraps were missing their core ingredient - but this was to be her strength. Having overspent in last week's task, the girls weren't going to jeopardise their revenue this week for a bit of flat-leaf parsley.
The boys ended up making a loss of neary £161 while the girls made a profit of £651 and Rocky, Howard (of Mitchells & Butlers fame) and James were left fighting for survival. With Rocky, the youngest and perhaps least experience in the boardroom, he found himself unable to justify the massive loss his team encountered despite his - and Howard's - experience in the catering trade.
The sad thing is, Rocky could have been a great apprentice for Sir Alan, because although Sir Alan wants someone with a bit of nouse, he also wants someone he can mould - and Rocky could have been dough in his hands.