'The Apprentice' contestant Howard Ebison

Howard Ebison fired

Thursday, 28 May 2009

Howard Ebison was fired from 'The Apprentice' last night (27.05.09).

The 24-year-old retail manager was eliminated from the business reality show after his team lost a task to sell goods on a TV shopping channel.

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Firing him, show mentor Sir Alan Sugar branded Howard a "Steady Eddie" and accused him of not taking enough risks.

He said: "We're going through tough times and I need the winner of this contest to be something special. I haven't got time for just ordinary people."

The episode saw Howard lead team Ignite's remaining members, Kate Walsh and Lorraine Tighe, while Yasmina Siadatan took control of Debra Barr and James McQuillan in team Empire.

The groups were given prime time slots on Ideal Home - one of the UK's biggest television shopping networks - to sell items which they had chosen. These included a metallic leather jacket, polystyrene animals, a deep fat fryer, fancy hair clips and a fleecy poncho.

Both teams failed to meet the network's targets, but Empire narrowly outsold Ignite, making around £200 more in sales.

In the boardroom, Sugar blasted Lorraine for being a "slow burner in the thought process" and labelled Kate a "one trick pony" but sent Howard home.

The furious contestant later accused "scheming" Lorraine of engineering his downfall.

He told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "I'm mortified I went instead of Lorraine. I was so surprised Sir Alan chose me - I was absolutely certain he was going to sack her. She deserved to go.

"She's much too unpredictable. I've been a much more successful candidate and I've performed better on more tasks. I haven't done any of the things she's been accused of, such as alienating people.

"But now I'm just another candidate who underestimated Lorraine and lost out in the boardroom."

James is now the only man among the five contestants left in the show, a revelation that prompted him to remark: "I feel like Hugh Hefner."