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The Apprentice is into the latter stages with just two candidates remaining ahead of Thursday’s final, but betting sites are finding it tough to split them. 

Phil Turner and Rachel Woolford are the last two standing after progressing through the dreaded interviews episode last week. 

In the episode, the then final-five candidates – Phil, Rachel, Dr. Paul Midha, Flo Edwards, and Tre Lowe – were grilled one-on-one by some of Lord Sugar’s most trusted advisors, Claude Littner, Claudine Collins, Mike Soutar, and Linda Plant.

All five came under fire, but back in the boardroom, three of them were actually fired, with Lord Sugar ditching Tre, Flo and then Paul ahead of the final. 

Despite missing out on Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment, Flo – who had the joint-best win record throughout the process – did triumph as the last London candidate standing. 

She finished fourth in the process overall, narrowly ahead of fellow capital candidate and fifth-placed Tre, but Lord Sugar decided he didn’t want to invest in her recruitment company, of which he has three already, because she was “starting from scratch.” 

This week’s final will see Phil and Rachel create their new businesses with the help of some of their former Apprentice co-stars, as Phil’s pies and Rachel’s gyms go head-to-head before Lord Sugar decides who he will invest £250,000 in. 

Phil’s Eyes On The Pies 

Pie company owner Phil has made the show’s final after an unprecedent process, in which he lost the first nine tasks before he was given an ultimatum by Lord Sugar to project manage and triumph in task 10 – otherwise he would’ve been automatically fired. 

Fortunately for Phil, he led his team to glory in task 10 and he is now the 8/11 favourite on Apprentice betting sites to land Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment. 

Quite often on the show, Lord Sugar has been keen to take a punt on a business he doesn’t already invest in, and he could have his eyes on the pies on Thursday night. 

Phil is already part of his family’s pie business, so has plenty of experience in the field, but is clearly keen to take that one step further with the help of entrepreneur extraordinaire Lord Sugar’s investment.

He was branded “resilient” by all four of his colleagues ahead of the final five’s interviews episode, and he will need to be excellent as well as resilient if he is to win the final. 

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One downside for Phil could be the return of a task-like episode, because he clearly didn’t fare well victory-wise throughout the process. 

The last four years of The Apprentice has seen an all-female final, but Phil’s presence means that isn’t the case this year. 

However, he will have to perform well to become the first male winner of the show since 2017’s James White, who was a joint-winner alongside Sarah Lynn.

Phil said: “To get to the final of The Apprentice, Lord Sugar must see something in you. 

“He ultimately chooses who he feels are the most competent and credible candidates to battle it out for his investment.”

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‘Professional’ Rachel To Pie Phil? 

However, Phil could well be pied in the final by boutique fitness studio owner Rachel, who is just 11/8 on specials betting sites to win series 18. 

Phil recently described Rachel as “really professional”, and said her hard work and diligence “always shone through on every episode.” 

If that is the case in the final, then Lord Sugar could be a new investor of her gyms business. 

He is no stranger to the fitness world, after he plunged £250,000 of his money into last year’s winner Marnie Swindells’ Bronx Boxing Club business.

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Rachel recently admitted her Apprentice journey was a “tough process” and she “really doubted” if she could make it as far as the final five at times, but she was victorious in seven out of 10 tasks and has certainly shown serious skill and business acumen along the way.

Ahead of the 10th episode of the series, Rachel was favourite on betting apps to win the series, but she was nearly fired after admitting she made a huge mistake in the task by sending Foluso Falade out on her own to do her team’s branding.

While it looked like cracks could’ve been starting to emerge, Rachel put that straight in the interviews episode and it would be no surprise at all if she overcame the odds and triumphed on Thursday night.

* Reminder: These are hypothetical odds provided by industry experts.