The Apprentice: series 18 recap as Bognor baker Phil Turner heads into the finals

Episode One

We’re introduced to all 18 new candidates, including Phil, as Lord Alan Sugar tasks his boardroom hopefuls with hosting a corporate retreat at Cawdor Castle. Phil flexes his muscles in the kitchen with a toad in the hole dinner that would have gone down a treat if it weren’t for his team’s time mismanagement, and it’s sales executive Oliver Medforth who goes home, though, having failed to contribute much of anything at all to the task.

Episode Two

In this episode, Phil takes charge as project manager, which sees the two teams designing, making and pitching mini cheesecakes both to the public and a corporate client. The baker doesn’t go home, but he can’t quite manage a win, despite owning a bakery back home in Bognor. Instead, pie rival Paul Bowen is sent home, having made too many mistakes in a task which should have played to his strengths.

Episode Three

A tech-savvy task sees the apprentices designing, demoing and eventually pitching a series of escape-room style games, to be judged a panel of industry experts. Team Nexus create a medieval themed escape room, which sees guests trying to find the cure to a plague, while Team Supreme pitch a Desert Island escape, which experts ultimately say feels a bit too confused. The Nexus guys go back to London with the win, and it’s Dr Asif Munaf who goes home, after Sugar pans him for failing to provide clear instructions to his team.

Episode Four

Venturing out to Jersey, the remaining candidates must purchase a list of nine items associated with the island for as low a price as possible. Team Nexus get their hands on eight of the nine, but Supreme only manage seven. Three people wind up in the bottom four, and it’s only Phil who makes it out, with pharmacist Amina Kahn, and recruitment director Jack Davies shipped off home for their poor performances.

Episode Five

Another tech-savvy episode, Sugar’s hopefuls are asked to design and pitch a Formula E team – an environmentally friendly alternative to Formula One. Phil is once more on the wrong side of the boardroom, as Team Nexus takes home the win having broken several in-house sales figures, but he stays the course. Instead its Chartered Company Secretary Onyeka Nweze who goes home, for her lacklustre presentation at the team’s launch event.

Episode Six

The apprentices design a box, logo, mascot and VR companion feature for a breakfast cereal aimed at the six to eight-year-old market. Nexus’ superhero-themed ‘MegaBella’ cereal, goes down well with retail giants, who place a sizeable order, but Supreme’s Arctic vision comes under fire for a bland flavour profile and confused branding. Inevitably, Nexus goes home with the win. Phil is in the bottom three yet again, but pulls through, and its team leader Sam Saadet who goes home, having led a fairly limp-wristed campaign.

Episode Seven

From supermarket aisles to the streets of Budapest, the teams are asked to design and deliver a luxury tour of Hungary’s biggest city. Although both teams deliver strong performances, it’s Nexus that takes home the win, having produced a much more profitable business pitch. Music producer Virdi Singh is fired after his seventh consecutive loss, having failed to impress Lord Sugar during the previous tasks.

Episode Eight

An asymmetrical challenge sees both teams working with Xbus electric van; Team Nexus target 18 to 25-year-olds in the leisure market, while Team Supreme go private, looking to pitch a version of the Xbus which might help businesses better connect with their customers. Both campaigns receive understandably mixed feedback from the public, but Nexus comes out on top, under Alan Sugar’s discretion. Team leader Noor Bouzaine gets the sack for her poor leadership skills and refusing to accept responsibility for the failure of her campaign.

Episode Nine

Episode Nine sees both teams selling hand picked products to viewers via prime-time TV shopping channels. A lack of strategy, poor presentation skills (two candidates actually provoked complaints from regular viewers of the show) and rapid-fire price drops all meant Team Nexus made less money than Team Supreme, paving the way for the latter’s first ever win. Back in the boardroom, Sugar fires two candidates: Raj Chohan, despite her stellar record so far, for a poor performance as project manager, and Maura Rath for driving away customers as a broadcaster.

Episode Ten

Make or break for Phil after his losing record saw him up against the ropes in Episode Nine, Phil is project manager on a task which sees both teams marketing vegan cheeses to retailers. His high-end truffle spread strikes a note with retailers, despite concerns about branding, while Team Supreme’s curry-flavoured cheese falls totally flat. It’s a win by default for Phil’s team, after the curry cheese receives no orders from retail giants. Foluso Falade is fired for failing to adequately brand her team’s product, and Steve Darken, who pitched the curry cheese in the first place, joins her.

Episode Eleven

With just five candidates left in the race, the tasks are over and the interviews begin. Sugar’s leading associates scrutinise each candidate over their business, working backgrounds, experience and performances in the tasks. Phil, although criticised for his losing streak in the tasks, is praised for his successful Bognor Regis bakery, which stands out in a crowded market. Instead, it’s DJ producer Tre Lowe who is sent home for lacking the right experience to deliver on his proposal. Flo Edwards is fired for many of the same reasons, and Paul Midha is sent packing after refusing to give Lord Sugar half of his business after his initial proposal is deemed unworkable.

What’s next?

Now there are only two candidates left; Bognor Regis baker Phil, and boutique fitness studio owner Rachel Woolford, who earned praise for ambitious plans to grow an already-successful business.

To find out who comes out on top, watch The Apprentice this Thursday on BBC One at 9pm, or BBC IPlayer any time afterwards.