Episode 3: The Debrief
What on earth is a 'cloche'?
Countless folks around the globe must have been asking themselves that very question. For the metallic food cover, which fired Gavin's team thought was some kind of greenhouse, was trending worldwide as a result of the Discount Buying task on The Apprentice.
Followers of @bbcapprentice on Twitter and the fan page on Facebook were certainly captivated by the item. Amyjo1983 lambasted Team Logic for their lack of knowledge: "A half Swiss,a half Belgian and a half French guy don't know what a cloche is?! Ironically "cloche" is also French for idiot!"Over on Facebook, Tiffany Dowling correctly wrote that it's "the lid that goes over a dinner plate! The waiters then bring it over and reveal your dinner!"and amoirdo jokingly tweeted: "Course I know what a cloche is! A Liverpudlian clock, no?"
We also asked the question: "Does anyone want to see an Apprentice spinoff series - 'Nick Hewer and The King Of Tonga Go Shopping'?" The Apprentice adviser's top hat experiences brought an ecstatic response from the online community. "The King of Tonga is this year's 'tramp on chips' comment. Nick is amazing," tweeted destrukt for example.
Team Venture's leader Susan's desperate attempt to knock down the price of the silk item provoked much laughter, particularly in response to the "How does that make a difference to me?" rebuttal from the unimpressed saleswoman. "I'm using that phrase at work for the rest of the week :)" laughed Melissa Brown 'Lloyd' on Facebook.
Nonetheless, CountessViviane echoed Nick Hewer's boardroom praise for the PM, saying that "Susan shone tonight. She was really good although the penny off was highly embarrassing," referring to the incredible top hat discount she achieved. That was far from the worst headgear indiscretion of the task though. As MichelleLiney succinctly put it: "Cannot believe Gavin just walked into a dry cleaners to buy a top hat..."
Alas, the task was won by Team Venture and Gavin was fired. Lord Sugar was on hand to tweet: "Shame Gavin had to go despite him having his own business , but to be fair he did not control the team . Nice bloke though". Richard Hurdle reasoned: "Vincent made Gavin's life very difficult, but he had been put in charge of the sub-team. That was Gavin's main mistake."
The tiny victory margin of £7.51 led to eagle-eyed viewer susandevonshire noting that "if jim hadn't blagged that extra £10, his team would have lost". Fittingly, given his fillet steak haggling techniques, 'Jedi Jim' was back trending in the UK - alongside Vincent, Susie, Top Hat, Gavin and Team Logic. Oh, and of course the legendary cloche!
The final words go to phantomchic2000, who tweeted: "Tomorrow when I go to the Cafe for my breakfast I'm gonna get them to reduce the price by 1p. Then I will jump 4 joy. #winning"
Comment number 1.
At 18:48 19th May 2011, Andy Sutcliffe wrote:What on earth were they thinking!!
Tea over £900 pounds, brought down to a snip of over £400.
The seller must of wanted to say " would you like some mugs as well, yourselves!"
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Comment number 2.
At 22:09 19th May 2011, emily louise wrote:i think zoe and vincent got lucky lol.
lord sugar is getting strict in these episodes isnt he!
did you see the next time wow! they have to spray tan!
and Susan needs to get a grip!
i like blogging its fun:]
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Comment number 3.
At 16:28 20th May 2011, Dame Wombat wrote:Does nobody know that a greenhouse cloche really is a real thing? Look:
https://www.makingyourown.co.uk/make-your-own-cloche-and-mini-greenhouse.html
You can even make your own!
Of course, the sort of cloche you put over a plate makes more sense in a hotel, but it's not completely out of the question that a top hotel might want one of the greenhousey ones to ripen their strawberries or something.
Did either team get the thing that was called something like ''psoriasis'' but presumably was something else? Does anyone even know what it is?
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Comment number 4.
At 11:12 22nd May 2011, jacqueline wrote:I am devestated at the apparent lack of knowledge these 'top notch' candidates have shown. To not know what a 'Cloche' is, especially in relation to the task, is unforgivable! Some of these people have been to university have they not? Surely they would have known? I usually enjoy the shopping list activity in this programme, but found myself nearly turning off as a consequence of their ineptitude.
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Comment number 5.
At 16:19 23rd May 2011, BlueCraneMedai wrote:What I found so insane - but telling - was the complete lack of interaction with 'the public', put away the phone books and use the vast resource around you called the population... go to the first pub and ask where the best deal for ice is, ask a greengrocer for Physalis - Alkekengi, Cape Gooseberry, Chinese Lantern Plant whatever, surely Moss Bros would know where to source a reasonably priced but quality topper and so on. But no, they all stayed in this little bubble of ignorance. So I suppose in that sense, all show the traits of 'captains of industry', but I wouldn't employ any of them!
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