The latest episode of The Apprentice sent shocks through the competition as both teams faced the first-ever double firing in the show's history. On Thursday, March 20, 2025, Lord Alan Sugar was left unimpressed after contestants crafted their hot sauces with little success, leading to an unprecedented outcome where neither team won.
The episode challenged the two teams, Ascendancy and Parallel, to develop a new hot sauce from scratch—including recipe creation, branding, and a TV advertisement. Team Ascendancy comprised Mia Collins, Anisa Khan, Emma Street, Liam, and Jordan, while Team Parallel included Amber-Rose Badrudin, Melica Moshiri, Deano, Max, and Chisola. Judging their efforts were industry experts, including the renowned Levi Roots.
During the boardroom showdown, Sugar criticized the outputs of both teams, branding them as 'pathetic' and 'garbage.' He revealed, "This leads me to conclude, there is no winner here. Both teams have lost this task." This brutal assessment became a talking point among viewers, sparking a flurry of reactions on social media.
In this week’s challenge, Team Parallel produced a sauce named Umami Mami—a blend of mango, saffron, and rose petals—while Team Ascendancy's sauce, Bangin’, featured Carolina Reaper chili at its core. However, both sauces failed to garner enthusiasm from the expert panel. Melica's team was criticized for the inconsistency of their sauce, which several deemed too thick to dispense from the bottle. Reviewers commented that the flavor was missing the essential 'umami' element promised by its name. Conversely, Bangin’ suffered from a lack of excitement in its flavor profile, being called 'boring' by the judges.
Hot sauce legend Levi Roots pointed out a spelling error in Team Ascendancy's branding, where the apostrophe was missing from their sauce name. This became emblematic of their lack of attention to detail during the task.
At the end of a heated boardroom discussion, it was Melica who was first to receive the axe. "Melica, I'm sorry, but I can't ignore the fact you've admitted you've been a bit disruptive. Most of your team has faced challenges, and I have to prioritize the team’s output,” Lord Sugar stated. Melica expressed disappointment, believing the decision could be a mistake while also indicating that she felt the boardroom dynamics played a big part in her firing.
Emma was similarly dismissed for what Sugar deemed to be minimal contributions throughout the competition; he stated, “I have not seen much from you in the past eight weeks.” Despite her exit, Emma remained optimistic about her journey in the competition, saying she was proud of her progress.
Melica reflected on her experience saying, "Ultimately, I think our sauce was better than the other team’s. If we added one more ingredient, we would have probably won.”
Though both women are no longer in the running for the prize, they indicated exciting new opportunities ahead. Melica shared her engagement in upcoming events, highlighting an invitation to a corporate Nowruz party, while Emma hinted at potential projects she was unable to disclose at this time.
The episode concluded with viewers eager to see what unfolds next in the competition, as the stakes continue to rise in the contest for Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment.
