The Apprentice concluded its latest series on Thursday, with a tough battle between the final two leaving fans at the edge of their seats until the last minute.
The finalists consisted of pizza company owner Anisa Khan and air conditioning company owner Dean Franklin.
Alan Sugar, 78, admitted he was extremely “torn” when it came to making a decision between the two candidates.
Due to his uncertainty, he kept them fighting for their win until the end, with the final boardroom scene seeing both entrepreneurs giving it their all following successful industry pitches.
Business magnate Sugar ended up asking the two to give one final pitch to him in the boardroom, with Khan passionately explaining: “Lord Sugar, throughout this process, I’ve proved myself a strong leader, I’ve consistently put my neck on the line, I am an all-rounder candidate.
“I’m very confident in my abilities in business and I’m very confident in my product. I do genuinely believe Indian-style pizzas is the future of the food business – the scalability is there and I genuinely believe that this is going to be the next big thing.”
“Same question to you Dean, why should you be my business partner?” Sugar probed.
A nervous Franklin replied: “I know my industry like the back of my hand. I’ve got a good reputation, I’ve got customers waiting for us to install.”
The entrepreneur became flustered and lost his wording, admitting: “Yeah, so this is another thing I’m not good at… Things like this.”
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As he paused, Tom Campbell advised him: “Take your time, take your time,” with Sugar agreeing.
After apologising, Franklin continued: “I’m a very loyal and honest person, what you see in me is what you get.
“I just give it my all in everything with the investment, I’ll be able to take the next steps when needed to get to where I want to be.”
Coming to a decision, Sugar summarised: “Well look, this is the way I see it.
“Dean, through the process you’ve been quite good, there’s been a few rocky moments where you remained in it by the skin of your teeth, but do I have confidence in the residential market buying more air-conditioning and laying out £1,500 to £2,000?
“That’s the big issue, it’s a lot of money as opposed to food where everybody’s got to eat – and a £10 or £11 pizza is affordable by most people, so that’s where I am at the moment.
“Anisa, you’ve always put yourself forward to be the leader, sometimes you’ve led successfully, other times you haven’t.
“I’m only interested in big turn-over, big profits, I’m not interested in peanuts.
“So… I’ve given it deep consideration I’m going to say that Dean, you’re going to be my business partner.”
Following the much-anticipated decision, fans instantly took to social media to share their thoughts, and many seemed to disagree with Sugar.
“Absolutely the wrong decision, Sugar has lost the plot #theapprentice,” one fumed on X.
“What even is this episode WTH #TheApprentice,” another shared.
“Robbed. #TheApprentice,” another simply commented, with another echoing the statement, writing: “ANISA WAS ROBBED WTAF #TheApprentice.”
“NO F***ING WAY ITS DEAN???? #TheApprentice,” one more shared.
Others felt Franklin was a worthy winner though, with another posting: “Dean deserved to win sorry #TheApprentice.”
“Kind of inevitable result given the returns. Well done to Dean. Commiserations to Anisa. We haven’t heard the last of her #TheApprentice,” another shared. (sic)