The demise of Helen Milligan?

Stacey Collins

Ding, dong, Melody has gone. And for a minute, I was scared that it would be Helen.

Following nine consecutive wins, I think most people were wondering why Lord Sugar hadn’t already abandoned the selection process and provided Helen with a million pounds to set up several businesses, awarded her Entrepreneur of the Year and maybe even adopted her whilst he was at it. It was obvious she was going to win over timid Tom or manipulative Melody. However, after last week’s episode, perhaps the operative word in that sentence should be ‘was’.

It was Lord Sugar that made the point that Helen has only ever worked for someone else and never for herself. Yes, she is a good organiser and can remain calm and collected in difficult situations, but does she have what it takes to be a business partner with Lord Sugar? Does she have the knowledge, experience and initiative to make and carry out her own business decisions?

The wholesale episode was a wholly unwholesome mess in general for Helen after a futile four hour round trip to buy more duvet sets and her idea at undercutting the wholesalers ridiculed by Lord Sugar. It would seem that Helen’s description of herself in her bio on The Apprentice website is incorrect too as she depicts herself as loyal. Would a loyal person tell their project manager ‘I’m completely behind you’ and then suggest over porridge the next morning that in fact they lack the adequate skills and would be a better project manager themselves? Perhaps not.

Helen was lucky last week that the focus was taken away from her flaws by the multiple failings of Natasha and her ‘no guts’ approach that left her ‘victorious’ team without a prize.

With only five contestants remaining, let’s see if Helen can redeem herself in tomorrow’s episode when the fantastic five set up their own fast food chain.