The Lesson Is: Never Try Quiz | Apprentice, The

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In the first series, the task in the sixth week was an advertising campaign to promote Amstrad's Jukebox stereo system. Team Impact's poster was poorly put together, but the real shocker came with Rachel Groves' pitch to potential buyers. What did Rachel do whilst demonstrating the Jukebox system's properties?

Answer: She took her shoes off and danced

Nick Hewer said later that the pitch was 'one of the most horrible experiences I've had to endure', and team mate Paul Torrisi - who was project manager that week - admitted he told Rachel to do whatever she wanted as 'we were drowning anyway'. Rachel was fired, and both Paul and Saira Khan, who had argued with each other throughout the task, were warned about their conduct. Tim Campbell, who was on opposing team First Forte that week, went on to win the series.

2. "Did you know that there are six million cat owners in the UK alone, and the majority live in London?" Nargis Ara asked in the second week of the second series, as an introduction to her pitch - and it all went downhill from there. She interrupted representatives of the companies when they tried to ask questions, lost track of what she was saying, and ignored the other members of Team Velocity's reservations during the initial brainstorming process. What cat-themed product was Nargis attempting to sell, in order to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital?

Answer: A calendar with photos of cats

Nargis, who was that week's project manager, also stalled when asked about cost prices, and was unsure whether to sit or stand when delivering the pitch. She was subsequently fired. Her team mate Michelle Dewberry - who would later go on to win the series - said that the rest of the team had been told that under no circumstances should they intervene while Nargis was giving the pitch, so they kept quiet throughout.

The calendar was also criticised for its presentation; for instance, the dates were too small, and the choice of cats rather than children was seen as being irrelevant.

3. In week 6 of series 3, the teams were tasked with selling 'the best of British produce' at a farmers' market in France. While Team Eclipse made a risky decision in selling tea in a nation that likes its coffee, along with smoked fish and marmalade, they won the task. Team Stealth, however, fared less well. While they managed to sell a few sausages, the other product on their stall did poorly; although the food in question is popular in France, the cheap processed variety Team Stealth bought from Makro barely make a dent in sales. What type of food was this?

Answer: Cheese

As well as buying the processed cheese, project manager and ex-army officer Paul Callaghan came up with the idea of cooking sausages on a DIY cooker made out of a baked bean tin. As the sausages took so long to cook, Team Stealth were unable to offer them to customers, and Kristina Grimes eventually used a local restaurant's cooker. Paul was fired, and that year's winner was Simon Ambrose, who was on Team Eclipse that week. Simon gained some notoriety of his own for holding a trampoline in a rather unfortunate position whilst screwing one of its legs, during the TV shopping task in week 10.

4. Teams Alpha and Renaissance were sent to Marrakesh in the seventh week of the fourth series to hunt down certain items, including a certain kind of tagine, a kosher chicken, and a tennis racket. Team Renaissance showed themselves up when not only did they try to sabotage Team Alpha's chances by attempting to bribe a shop assistant, but they also made an error in purchasing the kosher chicken - they bought it from the wrong place. From which unlikely place did Team Renaissance buy the not-so-kosher chicken?

Answer: A halal butcher

It was later revealed that Michael Sophocles and Jenny Celerier were the only members of Team Renaissance involved in the sabotage attempt. (Fortunately for Team Alpha, the store owner refused to take the bribe.) Michael and Jenny also got their chicken from a Muslim butcher rather than a Jewish one. Although Michael got into trouble with Lord Sugar - who is Jewish himself - for describing himself as a 'nice Jewish boy' and yet not knowing what a kosher chicken was, he escaped firing that week. Jenny was fired for the attempted sabotage and for trying to cover herself by lying about Michael in the boardroom. Jennifer Maguire, that week's project manager, was also fired for poor leadership.

Lee McQueen, who was on Team Alpha whilst in Morocco, won the fourth series.

5. In week 5 of the fifth series, for that series' advertising task, Philip Taylor of Team Ignite came up with a mascot called Pantsman, whose theme tune - sung by Philip himself - sounded very similar to Spitting Image's 'Chicken Song'. The idea behind the character was that the product they were advertising would prevent people from wearing their pants outside their clothing (which Mona Lewis and Howard Ebison did in the advert), as only superheroes could do that. The name of the product, incidentally, was 'Wake Up Call'. What kind of product was it?

Answer: Breakfast cereal

Although Pantsman was Philip's brainchild, project manager Kimberly Davis was fired for the failure of the task, as Lord Sugar deemed her to be a poor leader, and criticised her for refusing to do the pitch despite her background in advertising, resulting in a rather incoherent pitch from Mona. The cereal box, which was a frankly hideous shade of green and had very little detail, was also criticised for being a rush job.

Yasmina Siadatan, who was on Team Ignite that week, won the fifth series.

6. The advertising task reared its ugly head yet again in week 6 of series 6, and this time it was for a kitchen cleaner. Team Apollo, that week's losing team, came up with a product called the Germinator, and adverts for both radio and TV. The radio advert featured Stuart Baggs' comedy voice acting, and the TV advert featured a child actor - a factor which contributed to Team Apollo's loss. What was the problem with the child actor?

Answer: He shouldn't have been in the advert - the product label said, 'Keep out of the reach of children'

Although Team Synergy's advert for their product, Octi-Kleen, was criticised for sexism, it was Team Apollo's lack of attention to detail that cost them that week's task. Both Lord Sugar and the advertising agencies felt that having a child advertising a product that explicitly said 'keep out of the reach of children' was a bad idea, and the bottle was also criticised for having a poor design. Although Sandeesh Samra had had a poor track record so far, she escaped firing that week due to her excellent pitch, and Lord Sugar sent her out of the boardroom, feeling that she did not deserve to be there. Project manager Alex Epstein was fired for poor leadership and for bringing Sandeesh back.

Stella English, who was on Team Synergy that week, won the series. She later quit her job at Viglen and tried to sue Lord Sugar for constructive dismissal, but lost her case.

7. In week 7 of Series 7, the candidates had to come up with their own free magazine and get the backing of advertisers. Team Logic won with 'Covered', a business magazine-cum-lads' mag. Team Venture, meanwhile, created a magazine for the over-60s, with a rather unfortunate title. What was the title of the magazine?

Answer: Hip Replacement

After brainstorming names such as 'Vitalife', 'Pension Mention' and 'Golden Oldies', Zoe Beresford came up with the name 'Hip Replacement'. The magazine was criticised by the various advertising agencies for being patronising and ageist, a sentiment shared by both Lord Sugar and the focus groups to whom the idea was pitched. Although Susan Ma received criticism for contributing little, Glenn Ward was fired as Lord Sugar felt his engineering background meant he was ill-prepared for the business world.

Tom Pellereau, who was on Team Logic that week, was the seventh winner of 'The Apprentice', although his business plan of chairs for people with back problems was scrapped in favour of a curved nail file.

8. In the second week of Series 8, the teams were tasked with designing their own household gadget, and pitching and selling it to Amazon and Lakeland. After coming up with a 'tap cosy' and a splash guard which children could draw on, Team Sterling plumped for the splash guard, despite the focus groups preferring the tap cosy. Both Lakeland and Amazon were unimpressed by Team Sterling's costing errors, and their case was not helped by one particular member falling asleep in the car. Which member was this?

Answer: Maria O'Connor

Laura Hogg came up with the idea of the wipeable splash guard, named the 'Splish Splash', while Katie Wright came up with the 'tap cosy', but was eventually overruled. Amazon criticised Team Sterling for overestimating potential sales by initially offering one million units, and Lakeland did not buy any of the splash guards. Lord Sugar criticised project manager Jane McEvoy for poor leadership, but falling asleep in the car in between focus group visits, and contributing little in general, cost Maria the job.

The winner of the eighth series was Ricky Martin of Team Phoenix; his winning project was a science and technology recruiting consultancy.

9. In week 5 of the ninth series, both teams were sent out to Dubai and tasked with procuring eight items for a luxury hotel, including a custom-made flag, an oud and frankincense crystals. However, Team Endeavour only managed to obtain three items on the list, and wasted valuable time thanks to a critical mistake Kurt Wilson made when ordering the flag. To fans of Spinal Tap, it would have seemed very familiar. What was Kurt's error in ordering the flag?

Answer: He got the size specifications wrong and the resulting flag was too small

The team wasted valuable time in having to have another flag made to the correct specifications. Despite Kurt's failure with the flag, Zeeshaan Shah, that week's project manager, brought Leah Totton and Natalie Panayi into the boardroom. Both women accused him of sexism for bringing them back instead of Kurt and Neil Clough, who had also made a mistake in buying the wrong kind of kandura (a long robe worn by men in the Persian Gulf).

They also wasted time in looking for an oud (which some members thought was a perfume, but which is actually a kind of string instrument). Lord Sugar criticised Zeeshaan for failing the task despite being familiar with Dubai, and fired him. Leah went on to win the series with a business plan involving a chain of cosmetic surgeries.

10. In 2008, a spin-off programme, 'The Apprentice: Worst Decisions Ever', was aired, showing moments from the first three series. One of the most outstanding moments of failure was the catering task in the second series, where the teams had to set up their own food stalls at the 2006 Thames Festival. While Team Velocity went with Chinese food, Team Invicta decided on pizza. The task was a disaster, in no small part thanks to Syed Ahmed's over-enthusiasm in ordering a certain food item in order make a hundred pizzas. What was it that he ordered?

Answer: 100 whole chickens

According to fellow contestant Paul Tulip on 'The Apprentice: Worst Decisions Ever', by the end of the night, Team Invicta had so many chickens left, they ended up kicking them into the Thames! Syed spent so much money on the chickens that Team Invicta were unable to make up for the loss. Syed only just managed to escape firing for his error, and instead, it was project manager Alexa Tilley who went that week, due to her lack of control over the team.

Source: Author Kankurette

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor kyleisalive before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The Lesson Is: Never Try Trivia Quiz

The UK edition of 'The Apprentice' has had its fair share of bad decisions - some so bad, you wonder why the candidates even bothered! As the Comic Book Guy would say: 'Worst. Business decisions. Ever."

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