Fired 'The Apprentice' Candidate Sam Curry Makes Up In Inventive Excuses For What He Lacks In Business Acumen

FIRED APPRENTICE: If Excuses Were Pennies...

If excuses were pennies, fired Apprentice candidate Sam Curry would be a rich man, as he explains to HuffPostUK why exactly nothing was his fault in his disastrous display of business acumen that preceded his exit from Lord Sugar’s boardroom.

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Karren Brady, observing Sam’s attempts to calculate the prices on buying discounted goods that his team were hoping to sell on, commented that Sam should “be embarrassed” by his dismal efforts.

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Sam was fired after fighting his corner with project manager Scott and wordsmith Brett

Sam tells HuffPostUK that, although his maths ability "isn’t astonishing", the real problem with this part of the task was “the lack of work surface” available for him to do some basic arithmetic.

“These numbers were being thrown around,” he says now. “It was hard to keep track. I felt like a parent, watching children putting stuff in the trolley in the supermarket. So when it came to doing the total sums, it was really confusing.”

Right. What about the sales day? While the rest of his team were out front desperately selling their wares, we saw Sam having a spot of trouble with the till. Unsurprisingly, it seems there’s a plausible explanation for this…

“We were only given a short demonstration how to work it,” is how he reasons this now. “I was just trying to open the till.” Quite.

Sam, perhaps more accurately, reasons that stronger personalities are now starting to emerge as the series gets more competitive, and he may have been at a disadvantage, because he’s not one for conflict.

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Sam is clearly a man of integrity and averse to conflict, two qualities which could have got him fired earlier

“It becomes a contest for egos,” he assesses. “Scott said quite rightly there were too many voices in that task.

“Plus a negative energy seemed to emerge, which self-perpetuated as it went on, and was very difficult to overcome.”

Despite all this, he rejects the idea he might just be too nice a bloke to be part of such an alpha-person contest.

“Too nice is not a useful description,” he tells us. “You don’t have to be relentless to win in business. It’s not essential, but maybe it is required for this show.”

Perhaps you’re right, Sam, if you can give us the name of just one person who is not relentless but has nonetheless triumphed in the kind of business you’re describing.

It doesn’t take Sam long to give us a name. “Richard Branson.”

Okay then…

'The Apprentice' continues on Wednesday evenings at 9pm on BBC One. Who do YOU think is looking on track to be crowned this year's successful Apprentice?

The Apprentice 2015: Celebrity Lookalikes
Aisha Kasim(01 of36)
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Age: 26Business inspiration: Victoria BeckhamSample quote: "Pressure makes diamonds. It's something I respond well to, I think it's go hard or go home." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
This is going to be easy... Rebecca Ferguson(02 of36)
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April Jackson(03 of36)
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Age: 26Business inspiration: Skinny Girl Cocktails' Bethenny FrankelSample quote: "I'm Jamaican. We come first, we win on the track and we will win in the boardroom." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
Imagine Leona Lewis unsmiling... in a board meeting(04 of36)
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Brett Butler-Smythe(05 of36)
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Age: 28Sample quote: "I pride myself on not having any negative or bad traits about myself, they're all good, they're all positive." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
Brett shares the piercing gaze of Good Cop actor Mark Womack(06 of36)
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Charleine Wain(07 of36)
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Age 31:Sample quote: "I would describe myself as very determined, ambitious, and I always want to show that women can succeed in business." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
Mamma Mia, it's uncanny... Amanda Seyfried(08 of36)
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Dan Callaghan(09 of36)
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Age: 23Business inspiration: Amazon's Jeff BezosSample quote: "I'm just a generally all round quite entertaining person, I think. A lot of people laugh at me." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
Will Dan be toasting victory like (a young) Shane Ritchie?(10 of36)
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David Stevenson(11 of36)
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Age: 25Business inspiration: Elon MuskSample quote: "Me and Lord Sugar will work together because you've got age and beauty and those two go hand in hand all the time. Sugar's got the age and I certainly am beautiful." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
Strictly speaking, not identical, but the same baby face as Jay McGuinness(12 of36)
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Elle Stevenson(13 of36)
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Age: 21Business inspiration: Taylor SwiftSample quote: "I hate anything mediocre - I can't be middle. I hate being the person that comes second... I've never been the person that comes second. I'd rather be the one who fell over at the start of the race and never make it to the finish line." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
Imagine Nigella unsmiling... (14 of36)
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Gary Poulton(15 of36)
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Age: 34Sample quote: "I look like the nice, easy going, laidback Brummie but once I start doing my business, people know I'm the real deal." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
Is Gary as funky as hitmeister Mark Ronson?(16 of36)
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Jenny Garbis(17 of36)
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Age: 23Business inspiration: Emma Watson's 'He For She' campaignSample quote: "You will see my name in lights - Jenny Garbis, don't forget that. That's going to be a global name. That's going to be an entrepreneur everyone looks up to." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
As long as Lord Sugar doesn't have cold feet about Jenny... ho ho ho(18 of36)
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Joseph Valente(19 of36)
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Age: 25Role model: Hugh HefnerSample quote: "I am the definition of success, I'm a godfather of business and I'm here to make Lord Sugar a lot of money." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
If in doubt, Joseph, cry! It worked so well for Rylan(20 of36)
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Mergim Butaja(21 of36)
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Age: 23Sample quote: "Why am I a worthy business partner for Lord Sugar? I'd be a challenge to him. Everyone he's met probably sucks up to him. I won't. I'll tell him like it is." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
TV's Rav Wilding(22 of36)
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Natalie Dean(23 of36)
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Age: 25Business inspiration: Liv Garfield, the CEO of Severn TrentSample quote: "If I set my mind to something, I won't quit until I have done it." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
Girl meets Girl, everyone's favourite Jordie lass Denise Welsh(24 of36)
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Sam Curry(25 of36)
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Age: 23Business inspiration: Richard BransonSample quote: "I'm an interesting mix between happy go lucky and adventurous and then quite logical and sensible. It's a strange combination." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
Can't go on looking like(ish) David Tennant... (26 of36)
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Richard Woods(27 of36)
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Age: 31Business inspiration: Richard BransonSample quote: "I'm a Swiss army knife of bouncy skills, business skills, enthusiasm, I've got everything highly-tuned and highly-chiselled." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
Hopefully better luck than England rugby captain Chris Robshaw(28 of36)
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Ruth Whiteley(29 of36)
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Age: 47Sample quote: "Lord Sugar might think I'm a bit gushing, he might find me over-zealous, but I think he'll think I'm great." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
And Grayson Perry thought he was a one-off?(30 of36)
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Scott Saunders(31 of36)
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Age: 27Sample quote: "People do say to me they've never met anyone like me." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
Add a few (thousand) pounds, and it's Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson(32 of36)
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Selina Waterman-Smith(33 of36)
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Age: 31Sample quote: "I am strong-minded; I do like to be the leader." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
Billboard Queen Meghan Trainor(34 of36)
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Vana Koutsomitis(35 of36)
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Age: 27Business inspiration: Ashton KutcherSample quote: "I believe this is a marathon and if you have stamina and if you do things with integrity, morals and direction, you can get where you want to go." (credit:Jim Marks/Boundless)
Add a few pompoms, and she's the spitting image of Miss Price!(36 of36)
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