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So long Noorul Choudhury, we barely knew you. Mainly because we did not even know you existed.

After surviving for five weeks by lurking in the background and hoping Sir Alan Sugar would not notice he was there, Noorul has finally been ejected from this series of “The Apprentice”.

The good performance by last week’s winning team turned out to be a blip and last night the candidates were back to what they do best: making a complete pig’s ear of a rather straightforward challenge. Tasked with selling a range of bric-a-brac, team Ignite left the most pricey item — a rug — in the back of their van until it was almost too late, while team Empire did not even bother to have the items valued.

Both teams made a net loss and it was back to the boardroom for more infighting.

This series the section of the show devoted to the task has been getting shorter and shorter and last night the grilling by Sir Alan and his aides started after 35 minutes, which tells you everything you need to know about the amount of business acumen on display.

Project manager Ben, who is clearly starting to agitate Sir Alan, made a total mess of choosing which two teammates to take back into the boardroom with him. For the first time in Apprentice history, a team leader changed his mind and one poor candidate who thought she was free to go was called back in.

The result was a formality, however. Taciturn Noorul offered nothing and whichever team he ended up on was effectively a man down.

It was Sir Alan’s easiest decision so far. Choosing a worthwhile winner, on the other hand, may be his hardest.