Telly Talk: He maintains he is not interested in any Steady Eddies or Cautious Carols as he searches for a new Apprentice, but could Lord Sugar need to rethink his demands?

Fans of the show will have noticed that the feared and bearded boss has yet to fire anyone “with regret”, meaning he has yet to take that tough decision to cut loose someone he really likes; a bit of a worry considering it is now five episodes in and he is slowing whittling away his potential candidates.

Some may have thought feisty Paloma would have been the first to spark that kind of response in the final boardroom battle, but it wasn’t to be as she was dismissed with a distinct lack of sentiment after losing in this week’s fashion challenge. Those who have left so far have been mouthy, bullish and just plain useless.

While Paloma was a key player in the catty pack which has set the tone this series, she did seem to have something about her in terms of being able to hold her own in a pitch and spot what might sell. But that all fell apart last night as she and team opened a retail store to flog clothes for one day only in Manchester.

Her inability to work as part of a team, or indeed to create loyalty and a willingness to go that extra mile, was exposed in all its gory detail last night.

Paloma earmarked Alex from the start for her scapegoat before her Apollo team had even lost, repeatedly sign-posting that he had picked the location of the store from practically the start of the challenge. A lack of backbone is just not acceptable for Lord Sugar, who has no problem with those willing to admit their mistakes  – as long as they never make them again.

Alex may look like an overgrown and somewhat irritating teddy bear but he hit the nail on the head when he said Paloma had met her match and was going to go shortly before he joined her to face Lord Sugar.

Luckily Alex’s ability to entertain with his David Brent type-quotes was saved for future episodes by Lord Sugar. It was his marketing skills that secured the team an advertisement on the Trafford Centre’s television station.

This was a far better marketing tool than the one which saw the Synergy team persuade Stella to step forward for her second stint of modelling so far this series. But sitting in the window of the store in a short green dress didn’t go down well with either Lord Sugar’s right-hand man Nick Hewer or the shoppers.

“Maybe in Amsterdam but not in Manchester,” quipped Nick. Totally right and said in that no-holds-barred tone that only Nick can carry off.

Paloma was perhaps right to take Alex and Sandeesh (how is that women still in the running?) back into the boardroom, but there was no hiding from Lord Sugar’s penetrating stare or that finger of doom. It was her time to go, leaving Chris, thanks to a £300 sale, and Liz, who was the winning team manager last night to the tune of £500, still looking like worthwhile tips for the final.

Or least to be the first candidate to give Lord Sugar a reason to say “with regret”.