The Apprentice: What Lord Alan Sugar said as candidate is abruptly fired mid-episode

This series of the show has already seen the likes of gift store owner Emma Rothwell and salon owner Aoibheann Walsh fired by Lord Sugar, as the competition gets slowly whittled down to the final few entrepreneurs.

Typically, the losing project manager selects two teammates to join them in the boardroom, and one of them is fired. But this time, things took a very different turn.

On tonight’s (March 13) show, teams were tasked with creating and launching an educational banking app and a money box for children aged six to nine, followed by a pitch to industry leaders. At the start of the task, Lord Sugar reminded the candidates of his early business instincts.

He said: “It won't surprise you to hear that I've been interested in making cash from an early age. Before I even left school, I was finding ways to earn money like boiling beetroot for a local green grocer or collecting glass bottles to take back to the shop.

“But pocket money has moved on a bit since then. Today, the kids banking market is huge. There are now 28m accounts held by under 18s in the UK alone.

“To keep children engaged these accounts now also come complete with an accompanying app just like this one to educate, entertain and capture kids' imaginations.”

As part of the challenge, the candidates had to pitch to the children themselves, who didn't hold back in their critiques. But the real shock came later in the boardroom, where Lord Sugar lost his patience with one of the candidates. We won’t spoil who it was because the moment is genuine TV gold - the look on their face is an absolute picture.

Lord Sugar said: “I've heard enough - it seems like a completely disjointed organisation you were running there, completely disjointed. I don't like wasting my time.

“I think the dynamics of the team is terrible at the moment, listening to everybody, I think that you missed an opportunity.”

He then pointed to the candidate and fired them on the spot.

Last week, eliminated contestant Jonny Heaver suggested Lord Sugar has softened with age. While tonight he showed he still has that ruthless streak, Heaver argued he isn't as tough as he was when the prize was a full-time job, rather than an investment.