The Apprentice fans react as stars squirm in gruelling interviews

What did you miss?

The Apprentice's final five candidates were left squirming in the show's gruelling interviews as one was forced to try his own overly spicy drink, while another fell for a classic trick used on the BBC show.

Lord Sugar recruited his four toughest business associates to put the remaining candidates' business proposals under the spotlight, and as usual they showed up a number of fatal flaws.

But while no one had an easy ride in the interviews, the two finalists have been named and next week's episode will see Lord Sugar choose his new business partner.

What, how, and why?

The Apprentice is known for putting its contestants through humiliating tasks each week, but no challenge is more daunting - or more cringeworthy - than the interview round.

Viewers were not disappointed by this year's super-tough episode as interviewer Mike Soutar excelled himself by pulling his favourite trick with domain names, as well as forcing one candidate to pretend to like his own product.

Music star Tre Lowe was hoping to branch out into the supplement industry with a "testosterone drink" flavoured with ginger, turmeric and a large amount of black pepper, which he admitted he had not yet had the opportunity to try.

But luckily, Soutar had managed to get hold of the drink and made Lowe drink it during the interview, leaving him trying to claim he enjoyed the drink while grimacing through the spicy flavour. Lowe claimed: "I think a little bit less black pepper but other than that, not too bad."

Soutar said: "Woah, that burns the back of your throat," but Lowe told him: "I really like that feeling of burning the back of your throat." However, Soutar called him out as he asked: "Are you not going to finish it?"

One viewer commented on X: "tre pretending he likes the drink, im crying," as someone else wrote: "Tre must be in it for banter, how has he not tasted his product."

Others compared it to I'm A Celebrity as one person wrote: "Tre's just won 2 stars for camp," and someone else added: "Tre smashed the Bushtucker Trial interview!"

Lowe wasn't the only candidate to come under fire from Soutar, who also pulled up pie shop owner Phil Turner on false claims about when his business was established and pointed out to Flo Edwards that another company already had the same name as her recruitment business. One fan commented: "Mike year on year is the best interviewer. Absolute genius."

He also used his favourite trick of buying a candidate's business domain name before they got the chance to, with gym owner Rachel Woolford this year's candidate falling for the stunt.

Viewers loved Soutar's tactic as one person commented: "The best part of #TheApprentice in any series is the sheer detective work of @MikeSoutar to go and buy the candidates products / web domains / whatever they’re wanting investment for. I love the pettiness."

Someone else wrote: "mike should make a business plan on buying candidates domains," as another fan added: "michael soutar buying everyone’s website names never gets old," and another viewer agreed: "Why would you enter the meeting room with Mike WITHOUT BUYING YOUR DOMAINS!? It’s his signature move."

What else happened on The Apprentice?

Lord Sugar revealed his finalists in a last-minute twist that saw Paul Midha, who had previously been a favourite, dropped.

Midha already has a successful dental business but was looking for investment in a range of dental staff scrubs, which went down badly with every interviewer. He made a final attempt to secure investment by going back to his dental plans instead, but refused Lord Sugar's proposal to give him 50% of his business.

That left Turner and Woolford in the final, but viewers felt Midha had made the right call as one person wrote: "Give Paul massive credit for sticking to his guns."

Someone else commented: "Good on you Paul. Giving away 50% of your entire successful business would’ve been ridiculous."

Another viewer agreed: "Paul has my respect. Could have easily folded and given Lord Sugar the whole business but knew what he has built and knew he couldn’t give that away cheaply."

The Apprentice final airs on BBC One at 9pm on Thursday.

Read more: The Apprentice

• 'I kept my grief a secret after losing my dad a week before The Apprentice'

• Where are The Apprentice winners now?

• The Apprentice's most explosive boardroom showdowns

Watch: The Apprentice: You're Fired host Tom Allen cheekily tells Dermot O'Leary how to do his job