Characters / The Apprentice UK Season 2

Michelle

"I think as a team, we're pretty much finished."

• Dark Horse Victory: A consistently solid performer, but no-one predicted her as the winner, as Ruth was such an incredibly strong candidate, and Paul generally seemed just a little better until the interviews.
• Downer Ending: She took maternity leave from Sir Alan's company after just a couple of months. Tragically, her child was stillborn, and she never returned to working for Sir Alan.
• Romance on the Set: With Syed, although it wasn't really hinted at in any way until the season finale. Their romance ended up producing a baby, who sadly was stillborn, leading to her and Syed breaking up not long afterwards.invoked
• Elimination Houdini: Much like Syed (and to an extent Tuan) in Week 4, she would have been fired alongside Samuel due to her poor work as leader in the Seventh task if the show had allowed for double firings. It was only because of her convincing statement and stronger track-record that allowed her to survive that week.

Ruth

"You wouldn't believe that! So I've been into the second-most place in Britain when it comes to insurance and I've just been removed by security."

• The Ace: One of four contestants (along with Yasmina from Season 5, Helen from Season 7, and Carina from Season 15) who tend to be regarded as the best UK Apprentice candidate of all time. Statistically her track record was actually pretty weak (3-7 on the tasks, 1-1 as project manager), but her skill and especially sales abilities showed through in every single challenge.
• Crack Defeat: To this day, no-one's exactly sure what Sir Alan saw in Michelle that Ruth didn't also have. Even Sugar himself has indicated that in retrospect, he should probably have hired her.
• The Runner-Up Takes It All: Had a much bigger post-Apprentice career than Michelle, and is probably second only to Katie from the following season as the most successful overall in that regard.

Ansell

"It's 8:30 yeah? I'm not bothered about who's this, that and the other at this moment. All I'm saying is 8:30, our calendar's here, we've got stuff to put together that was a group we've got to make sure happens, yeah? So whatever views about how we run things so far, we've got half an hour to nail this before we're out of this house."

• Black Dude Dies First: Inverted, as he was the last of the men to be fired.
• Nice Guy: One of the few candidates (if not the only one) who everyone got along with this season.
• Only Sane Man: In the first few tasks he quite often did more of a job leading the men's team than the actual project managers did. It therefore came as quite a shock when he turned in a dreadful performance in his sole outing as an actual PM.

Paul

"I know I shouldn't be laughing now, but I think this is hilarious."

• Fatal Flaw: His arrogance. Aside from Ruth he was probably the most consistently strong candidate this year, but his attitude resulted in his crashing and burning in the interview round.
• Smug Snake: Proved himself to be this in the interviews, resulting in what was probably Sir Alan's angriest firing until that point.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Prior to the result being announced in the Week 4 boardroom, he openly admitted that the team had almost certainly lost horribly.

Syed

"We need 100 chickens, we need 13 kilos of minced beef, and we need 45 kilos of gammon which is boned and rolled gammon off the bone. Okay? So I'll repeat that again: 45 kilos of gammon, minced beef 13 kilos, chicken: 100 chickens."

• Blatant Lies: In Week 6 he told some potential car buyers that the dealership which was hosting the task would buy the cars back at a profit in three years time. When he found out about this, the manager dragged Syed aside and told him that were he actually employed there, he'd have been fired on the spot.
• Exact Words: He probably should have said something more specific than just saying “100 chickens” in Week 4 to avoid the blunder where he managed to order 100 large chickens that cost the team a large part of their budget.
• Epic Fail: His culpability in the Week 4 task, especially in ordering 100 ginormous chickens, is the stuff of legend. A less documented but arguably even more ridiculous example came in Week 9, when he thought that "Wandsworth Bridge" was the bridge outside Wandsworth railway station.
• Insane Troll Logic: When Sir Alan said that he held Syed 100% responsible for the utter catastrophe of Week 4, Syed responded that he'd "put in 150%," as if that somehow cancelled out Sir Alan's figure.
• Jerkass: He wasn't actually too bad in this regard compared to a lot of later candidates, but he definitely had a nasty streak, which he demonstrated during a major argument with Sharon in Week 7.
• Karma Houdini: Escaped being fired in Week 4 due to a combination of Alexa's truly horrific leadership, and the show's rules not permitting multiple firings during the first two seasons. Had the task taken place a year later, Syed (and possibly also Tuan) would have been a goner along with Alexa.
• Moral Event Horizon: In-universe; in the final regular task he tried to go ahead with a raffle despite knowing full well that nearly a third of the tickets had been misplaced. While the tickets were eventually found (albeit mostly because of Ruth), the incident convinced Sir Alan that Syed just couldn't be trusted to work for him.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: Let's just say that if butt kissing were an actual profession, he'd never have needed the job that Sir Alan was offering. It got so nauseating that Sir Alan specifically warned candidates in future seasons not to try repeating that.

Tuan

"I don't want to have to sit here and spell it out to people how hard I worked, that hopefully I expect them to see it. So I see how hard they work. I don't sit here and say "You've had an easy day, playing with babies ." It..."

• Crippling Overspecialization: Was very good at administrative tasks, but much less so at sales or management. He managed to last quite a way into the season, but it eventually caught up with him and he was fired in Week 9.
• Epic Fail: He was almost as responsible as Syed for the Week 4 disaster, when he decided that the team could make 500 pizzas with no backing logic whatsoever.
• Manly Tears: Like Samuel, shed these on the second task and like Samuel, managed to hold them back for the most part.
• Never My Fault: Downplayed in the Week 4 boardroom, where he fingered Alexa and Syed as being responsible for the loss, but did admit that his 500 pizza estimate had been a stupid decision. By contrast, Syed kept rambling about how awesome he was despite helping cause a massive loss, while Alexa just sat there in shock weakly tried to deflect the blame.
• Non-Gamplay Elimination: Subverted, but he almost had to pull out of the show due to contracting food-poisoning in task 8.

Sharon

"I think you're an arrogant wanker, but good luck."

• Deadpan Snarker: After being fired, she told Syed the above quote.
• Heroic BSoD: Tended to have these quite easily, especially after arguing with Mani in Week 4, and Syed in Week 7. On the latter occasion she outright told the rest of her team to get lost and refused to do any work on the task, but quickly changed her mind on realizing that she'd probably get fired for that.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: not so much at first as this fell to Jo and Mani, but as the tasks continued it was clear that no one on her team (with the possible exception of Tuan) liked her and clashed with her on a regular basis.

Samuel

"It's really tough...these bloody tasks are so tough. If we win, I think...I'll be speechless. You know, I'll just...it'll just be overwhelming if we win because I...you know, I'm feeling quite emotional but..."

• Bystander Syndrome: Almost never did anything of any note in the tasks, and only got as far as he did due to a combination of other people being worse, and being on the winning team more often than not.
• Ignored Expert: He worked out that in order to clear the 500 pizzas that Tuan thought they could make, the team would have to sell a slice of pizza every nine seconds, which would have been less time than it would usually take for someone to order and pay for the slice.
• Manly Tears: Towards the end of his quote on the second task but unlike Jo, he managed to hold them in.

Jo

" I thought I expected this, because I accept the fact I've been here four times, but I think that what that demonstrates is that I've got resilience of a survivor. I'm happy to go out here on the basis of like, being crap, but I don't believe that I am..."

• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Had to be told she was fired three times before she stopped asking for another chance.
• The Cassandra: She appeared to be this during Week 2, when she seemingly took the logical step of pointing out that promoting Great Ormond Street children's hospital with a cat calendar was a poor idea, and that going with babies was a better idea. However, this was the result of Manipulative Editing. In reality, the men's team decided on the babies theme immediately, and the women's team were forced to choose one of several themes not really related to the hospital. So, what she was actually doing was wasting the team's time by trying to argue for the babies theme, and forcing the other women to fruitlessly try to point out they weren't allowed to use it.
• Cloud Cuckoolander: Not all the time, but she was extremely emotional and did have more than a few moments of bizarre behaviour.
• Drama Queen: Big-time during the Week 2 task, and to a lesser extent she was this as project manager the following week.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: After causing a commotion during the second task, she had very few friends on the team, and even fewer after messing up royally as project manager the following week.
• Karma Houdini: Would have been fired for certain after her project manager loss, if not for Sir Alan's seemingly irrational dislike of Karen.
• Four Is Death: Fired after her forth apperance in the boardroom.

Mani

"I can't be bothered to explain it to you, because it'll take all day!"

• Jerkass: Turned into this during his final task, with Sir Alan even calling him a "wanker" to his face before firing him.
• Never My Fault: Subverted, as the big mistake that caused his team to lose in Week 5 actually wasn't directly his fault; it was Ansell's, with Mani only being responsible in as much as he left it until it was far too late to correct it. However, he refused to take any share of the blame, and this along with his Jerkass behaviour (and Ruth not bringing Ansell back) resulted in his firing.
• No Social Skills: Like Nargis, his early pitches were panned by his team in Week 2 and on Worst Decisions Ever.
  Ruth Badger: "(mocking Mani) I'm going to try in the most patronising voice that I can, and touch your heartstrings, (normal voice) when they're thinking "Where's the calculator? Can I work out my margins?"
  Margaret Mountford: "He was appalling. He wasn't quite as bad as Rachel with the bare feet, but almost. I mean, you don't go in to sell a calendar by becoming tearful about the charity that the calendar is promoting."

Alexa

"That...that sounds like a lot of chickens!"

• The Ditz: First indicated to be the case in Week 3, when she frequently seemed to lose track of where the team was supposed to be going and what they were buying next. Exaggerated in the following week, when she completely flaked out as project manager and ended up allowing a massive loss to be made.
• Epic Fail: Was project manager of the Week 4 task, which resulted in a loss of £807. To this day, that still stands as the biggest loss made by any team in any incarnation of the show worldwide.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Got one hell of these from Sir Alan before she was fired, with him calling her "a lightweight" and "a very, very bad manager". Notably, this was the first time that Sugar had accused a candidate of being outright incompetent when firing them, instead of just telling them that it was for making one particular mistake or because he didn't feel they were suited to his business.
• The Scapegoat: To a degree. While it was really Syed and Tuan that propelled the team to the gigantic loss, Alexa's leadership was completely non-existent, and she spent the entire boardroom session just sat there looking like a deer in the headlights.

Karen

"You are a bit pissed off 'cause it's not what you want but actually you have to say...*after Jo continues to protest* Well, I know but it's too late for that Jo. You have to come on board."

• Dude, Where's My Respect?: It was obvious from the first episode that Sir Alan didn't like her at all, despite leading her team to possibly the most comprehensive victory in the show's short history until that point. Just two episodes later, Sir Alan got shot of her, bluntly telling her that he wasn't interested in hiring a corporate lawyer.
• Sex Sells: Went with this strategy full-force in the first task, which resulted in a resounding victory. However, Sir Alan did not approve of this in the least, giving the team a major tongue-lashing and only refraining from disqualifying them on the grounds that the men's team had done so poorly that they would probably have lost anyway.

Nargis

"Did you know there are six million cat owners in the UK alone?"

• It's All About Me: Designed the team's character based purely on her personal preferences, and even when Sharon, Ruth and Michelle all objected to the dates being printed so small that notes couldn't be made on the calendar, she refused to budge.
• No Social Skills: Her sales pitches in Week 2 looked like they were being done by someone only vaguely aware of how pitches, or indeed human conversation in general, were supposed to be done. Not only did she repeatedly interrupt and talk over the buyers, she even got angry at them over the fact that she didn't know how much their calendars were supposed to cost. Even in the Worst Decisions Ever special several years later, she seemed under the impression that she had done nothing wrong in her pitches.
• Reality Show Genre Blindness: Understandable, given that it was so early in the show's run, but she committed the cardinal mistake of insisting on handling the sales pitches herself in order to impress Sir Alan, who would probably have been more impressed if she'd delegated it to someone with the appropriate experience.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Zig-zagged. She actually did have valid reasons for choosing the cat calendar, as they couldn't use the babies theme, and cat calendars sold the best out of the remaining options. Her real mistakes were going all-in with the cat theme and not trying to tie it in with the hospital (which was seemingly only mentioned as an afterthought) in any real way, along with poorly designing the calender and then not listening to her team-mates, and then her bad sales pitches buried her altogether.

Ben

"Well, I'm very disappointed by the lack of loyalty, they didn't stand up to be counted; to be a leader, they put me out there. I took up the challenge..."

• Blatant Lies: Clamied in the boardroom that he should stay because he was brave enough to become there leader. In reality his name had been chosen from sticks. Lord Sugar quickly saw through this and fired him partly for it.
• Genre Blind: Failed to realize that it was a bad idea to bring back Syed, who sold the second-highest amount of fruit in the first task, just because he tended to argue with him a bit.

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