The eighth series of British reality television series The Apprentice was broadcast in the UK on BBC One, from 21 March to 3 June 2012. While only one minor change was made to the format of the first task, the general format of the programme itself remained virtually unchanged for this series. Alongside the standard twelve episodes, two specials were aired alongside this series – "The Final Five" on 29 May, and "Why I Fired Them" on 2 June. Sixteen candidates took part in the eighth series, with Ricky Martin becoming the overall winner. Excluding specials, the series averaged around 7.35 million viewers during its broadcast.

Series overview Applications for the eighth series opened while series seven was still on the air, with auditions, interviews and pre-production assessments taking place in July 2011, and production beginning in autumn of that year. Prior to the candidates starting their first task, there was a minor change in the format, whereby candidates were able to settle into their accommodation before beginning the process – up until this series, candidates were not permitted to settle in until after the first task and the resulting boardroom scenes. This series' team names were Phoenix and Sterling.

Of those who took part, Ricky Martin would become the eventual winner, and went on to use Sugar's investment to set up a scientific recruitment company, Hyper Recruitment Solutions (HRS), on 23 October 2012. He would later be invited back as an interviewer for the tenth series. Series runner-up, Nick Holzherr, would later go on to raise £1 million to invest in a new online business, "Whisk", crediting his success with what he learned while participating in the programme.

Candidates Candidate Background Age Result Ricky Martin Recruitment Manager 26 Winner Tom Gearing Director, Fine Wine Investment Company 23 Runner-up Nick Holzherr Technology Entrepreneur 25 Fired in the Final Jade Nash Business Development Manager 29 Adam Corbally Market trader 32 Fired after eleventh task Stephen Brady Sales Manager, Health Clubs 33 Fired after tenth task Gabrielle Omar Architect & Entrepreneur 29 Jenna Whittingham Beauty salon owner 25 Fired after ninth task Laura Hogg Bridal shop owner 28 Fired after eighth task Azhar Siddique Founder/director of catering and refrigeration company 33 Fired after seventh task Katie Wright Editorial and research director 26 Fired after sixth task Duane Bryan Drinks Distribution Entrepreneur 29 Fired after fifth task Jane McEvoy Director, Food Manufacturing Company 28 Fired after fourth task Michael Copp MD kitchen and bedroom furniture retailer 31 Fired after third task Maria O’Connor Restaurateur 20 Fired after second task Bilyana Apostolova Risk Analyst 25 Fired after first task

Performance chart Candidate Task Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Ricky IN IN BR LOSS LOSE IN IN IN LOSE BR WIN HIRED Tom IN IN LOSS WIN IN LOSS BR LOSE WIN IN IN RUNNER-UP Nick WIN IN IN LOSS LOSS IN WIN IN IN IN BR FIRED Jade LOSS LOSS IN IN IN LOSS LOSE BR IN WIN BR FIRED Adam IN IN LOSS IN IN LOSE LOSS LOSS IN IN FIRED Stephen IN IN LOSS IN WIN LOSS IN IN BR FIRED Gabrielle LOSE LOSS IN BR LOSS IN IN WIN LOSS FIRED Jenna LOSS BR IN LOSS LOSS WIN IN IN FIRED Laura LOSS LOSS IN LOSE BR IN LOSS FIRED Azhar IN WIN LOSS IN IN BR FIRED Katie BR LOSS LOSE IN IN FIRED Duane IN IN WIN LOSS FIRED Jane LOSS LOSE IN FIRED Michael IN IN FIRED Maria LOSS FIRED Bilyana FIRED

Key: The candidate won this series of The Apprentice. The candidate was the runner-up. The candidate won as project manager on his/her team, for this task. The candidate lost as project manager on his/her team, for this task. The candidate was on the winning team for this task. The candidate was on the losing team for this task. The candidate was brought to the final boardroom for this task. The candidate was fired in this task. The candidate lost as project manager for this task and was fired.

Episodes

Ratings Official episode viewing figures are from BARB.

Episodeno. Airdate Viewers(millions) BBC Oneweekly ranking 1 21 March 2012 7.61 6 2 28 March 2012 7.51 7 3 4 April 2012 7.46 5 4 11 April 2012 8.05 6 5 18 April 2012 7.24 7 6 25 April 2012 7.62 7 7 2 May 2012 7.14 7 8 9 May 2012 6.96 2 9 16 May 2012 7.13 5 10 23 May 2012 7.23 3 11 30 May 2012 7.23 8 12 3 June 2012 6.99 9

Specials Episode Airdate Viewers(millions) BBC Oneweekly ranking The Final Five 29 May 2012 Why I Fired Them 2 June 2012

References

External links