The Apprentice 2015: Scott Saunders quits and Selina Waterman-Smith is fired in boardroom shocker

The latest series of The Apprentice has been particularly dramatic – from stories of off-screen spats to shocking exit interviews.

But the most explosive turn came this week, as Scott Saunders removed himself from the process, despite his team winning the task.

The candidate received considerable criticism from Lord Sugar after his poor performance, bungling several cringeworthy sales pitches.

Revealing that the team survived thanks to the sales of team-mates Vana and Richard, Lord Sugar said: “You heard me say many times that if you’re in the winning team, you stay in the process. Sometimes it backfires. Scott, I gotta tell you, from what I’m hearing from Karren, you are a very, very lucky man to still be here at the moment.”

However, after informing the team of their winners' treat, only Brett, Vana and Richard stood up to leave the boardroom.

“It’s alright,” Scott said as the candidates looked around confusedly. “I would just like to quickly say, thank you for the opportunity but I would like to exit the process.”

Lord Sugar didn’t argue, saying: “You’re doing my job for me. I’m an honourable man, and I stick to the rules – so all I can do is thank you very much indeed for putting yourself forward because you’ve actually made life a little bit easier for me.”

Saunders stood up and said another thank you, before leaving the boardroom, grabbing his suitcase, and saying: “I’m off.”

“He clearly knows he’s out of his depth,” said Karren Brady. “He’s gone”

Claude Littner concurred: “He’s been floundering for weeks really.”

Speaking in his taxi, Saunders said: “I left because Lord Sugar made a success of his business himself, so why do I need to go to him to go and get an investment? I truly stand by my decision, and he’ll kick himself that he didn’t look at me in a different light.”

However, those in the losing team hoping for an easy break weren’t in luck – another candidate was also sent home from the series.

This time it was the turn of Selina Waterman-Smith, who has proved a divisive figure throughout the series.

In particular, Selina has had an ongoing feud with Charleine Wain – the pair were involved in an off-camera scuffle outside the boardroom towards the beginning of the series.

“You’ve certainly managed to alienate people here in this process – more than a couple, from what I can understand – and I’m just wondering whether a person with such a volatile nature is the type of person that I would want as a business partner,” Lord Sugar said.

He confirmed: “My instincts tell me, we’re not going to make it Selina. You’re fired.”

Speaking in her taxi, Selina said: “The wrong person has been fired. I would be a great business partner for Lord Sugar, but obviously if it means having to go through working with people as unpleasant as people like Charleine and Joseph, I’m actually quite happy to find another business partner to work with.”

Waterman-Smith has repeatedly bashed the show on Twitter for her portrayal through the series, and recently labelled the show “crap” and “lame”. 

She also implied weeks ago that she did not win the series, claiming on Twitter that she had “broken contract” with the show and would not be appearing on sister series The Apprentice: You’re Fired.

BBC One, 9pm

The latest task saw a first as a winning candidate removed themselves from the process