The Apprentice 2015: Natalie Dean is fired after disastrous pitches for ‘Snottydink’ children’s book

The candidate blamed her performance on a bout of illness 
Fired: Natalie Dean is the latest casualty of the boardroom in The Apprentice
BBC / Boundless
Ben Travis4 November 2015

This week’s episode of The Apprentice brought one important lesson: put a handful of determined business wannabes in a room, and you get some slightly dodgy children’s books by the end of the day.

While Charleine Wain led her team to victory with a book about a bee, English Literature graduate Sam Curry was less successful with his story Snottydink, about a dragon and elephant hybrid creature.

However, it was Natalie Dean who took the heat this week after failing to sell copies of Snottydink to independent retailers with two disastrous pitches.

In her first attempt, Natalie didn’t convince the shopkeeper with a low-energy pitch, with team member Scott saving the day by diving in and talking up the book as a limited edition. The vendor decided to take 10 copies after his persuasion.

“Natalie was a little bit subdued, and I didn’t feel confident with her pitch,” he said.

In Natalie’s second pitch, things were running smoothly until the shopkeeper asked for her discount percentages, at which point Natalie blanked and sighed as Karren Brady shook her head from the sidelines.

Attempts to salvage the pitch proved futile, with no books being sold.

The Apprentice 2015: Ludicrous quotes

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“Actually, do you know what guys, I’m going to stop you here,” the shopkeeper interrupted Natalie, saying that Snottydink wasn’t the right book for her shop.

“Wow, well that was a waste of time,” Natalie vented while the shop door was still wide open.

“Natalie was supposed to lead the pitch but she did a terrible job,” summarised Karren. “She didn’t engage with the customer, she didn’t know the figures – frankly, it was a disaster.”

In the boardroom, Natalie blamed her poor performance on a bout of illness, which didn’t endear her to Lord Sugar.

“I was feeling terrible all day, that’s why I didn’t go with Sam to do the pitches,” she claimed.

BBC One, 9pm

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