The Apprentice New Zealand
The Apprentice New Zealand is a New Zealand reality television series that aired on TV2 16 February to 11 May 2010. It features Terry Serepisos, Wellington
based multi-millionaire property developer, as the chief executive officer. The series' winner, Thomas Ben, received a $200,000 package consisting of a $100,000 salary, A BMW and accommodation. Thomas began work at Terry Serepisos' property development company Century City in July 2010.
Candidates
There were fourteen candidates taking part in this season and initially they were separated into two teams based on gender. The women chose the name Athena, while the men chose the name Number 8. In the first episode, there is a twist as Nicky and Richard are revealed to be already in a relationship. In episode 4, the teams picked project managers for the task Nicky and Chris and then were told that they would swap and lead the other team. In the boardroom in episode 6 Richard was switched to team Athena due to his excellence in the task even though his team lost. In episode 9 Nicky and Linda who had starring roles in the previous task had to select one member from their own team without conferring to switch to the other team, Linda chose Karen and Nicky chose David. In Week 11 Catherine and Karen swapped teams because they had not worked with the other person.| Candidate | Background | Original team | Age | Hometown | Result |
| Thomas Ben | Divisional Manager | Number 8 | 34 | Auckland | Hired by Serepisos |
| David Wyatt | Media Agency Director | Number 8 | 27 | Auckland | Fired in the Season Finale |
| Catherine Livingstone | Business Consultant | Athena | 33 | Auckland | Fired in week 12 |
| Karen Reid | Healing Company Director | Athena | 33 | Auckland | Fired in week 11 |
| Linda Slade | Business Student | Athena | 21 | Christchurch | Fired in week 10 |
| Nicky Clarke | PR specialist | Athena | 28 | Auckland | Fired in week 9 |
| Daniel Phillips | Senior Account Manager | Number 8 | 31 | Auckland | Fired in week 8 |
| Meena Chhagan | Senior Accountant | Athena | 24 | Wellington | Fired in week 7 |
| Richard Henry | Getfrank Founder | Number 8 | 26 | Auckland | Fired in week 7 |
| Paul Natac | Local Government Manager | Number 8 | 28 | Auckland | Resigned in week 6 |
| Chris Whiteside | Accountant | Number 8 | 28 | Christchurch | Fired in week 4 |
| Kirsty Parkhill | Business Development Manager | Athena | 35 | Wellington | Fired in week 3 |
| Lee Davies | Internet Company CEO | Number 8 | 29 | Christchurch | Fired in week 2 |
| Kim Laurenson | Company Director | Athena | 27 | Christchurch | Fired in week 1 |
Weekly results
Challenges
Week 1
- Air Date: 16 February 2010
- Project managers: Kim and David
- Task: To sell BBQ'd food in Auckland city centre. The team that makes the most profit wins
- Result: Athena made a $511.50 profit against Number 8's $711.00
- Winner: Number 8
- Reward: Dinner at Dine by Peter Gordon
- Brought into the boardroom: Kim, Catherine and Kirsty
- Fired: Kim Laurenson
- Reasons for firing: For poor leadership and bringing Kirsty back for seemingly no reason.
Week 2
- Air Date: 23 February 2010
- Project managers: Daniel and Karen
- Task: Put on a fashion show which exhibits the latest innovation in women's underwear from jockey; the next generation of the no panty line promise range
- Result: Number 8 win the creativity and originality part of the task but Athena win the presentation side of the challenge and the overall brand integration.
- Winner: Athena
- Reward: Taking a helicopter to the 140 ft super catamaran Island Passage
- Brought into the boardroom: Daniel, Lee and Paul
- Fired: Lee Davies
- Reasons for firing: For his arrogance and lack of professionalism by drinking on the task.
Week 3
- Air Date: 2 March 2010
- Project managers: Kirsty and Thomas
- Task: To sell new Magnum Ice Cream Sandwich Auckland city centre. The team that makes the most profit wins
- Result: Athena made a $1,071.30 profit against Number 8's $1,490.00
- Winner: Number 8
- Reward: Number 8 get to go bungy jumping with Tamati Coffey
- Brought into the boardroom: Kirsty, Karen and Nicky
- Fired: Kirsty Parkhill
- Reasons for firing: For a lack of leadership & control over Athena.
Week 4
- Air Date: 9 March 2010
- Project managers: Nicky and Chris switched teams.
- Project managers: Chris and Nicky
- Task: To create an online marketing campaign for a Microsoft product.
- Winner: Number 8 won all five categories in the task.
- Winner: Number 8
- Reward: Pampering at East Day Spa
- Brought into the boardroom: Chris, Catherine and Karen
- Fired: Chris Whiteside
- Reasons for firing: For lying, being a poor leader and showing the competition his team's presentation.
Week 5
- Air Date: 16 March 2010
- Project managers: Catherine and Richard
- Task: To Create and to make a Subway sub to sell to the public of New Zealand.
- Winner: Athena
- Reward: A free handset from a telecom store, and a 10 minutes phonecall to loved ones/family
- Brought into the boardroom: Richard, Paul and David
- Fired: No One, Terry felt that both teams had done well on the task.
Week 6
- Air Date: 23 March 2010
- Project managers: Linda and Paul
- Task: To develop a concept and sell a Bus Tour around Auckland.
- Winner: Athena
- Reward: Watch a Horse Race at Ellerslie Race Course, Richard accompanied Athena on their reward due to being judged as the best performer on Number 8.
- Brought into the boardroom: Paul, Daniel and Thomas
- Asked to be fired: Paul Natac
Week 7
- Air Date: 30 March 2010
- Project managers: Richard and Nicky
- Task: Renovate, Re-Decorate, and Rent an apartment at Lighter Quay.
- Winner: Number 8
- Reward: A round of golf together with Terry Serepisos and his two assistants
- Brought into the boardroom: Catherine, Linda and Meena
- Fired: Richard Henry and Meena Chhagan
- Reasons for firing: Richard for lying and trying to cover up any actual problems in his team. Meena for lying to Mr. Serepisos' face despite all the candidates being warned they would be fired solely on lying.
- Notes: Richard is fired before the results of the task are even revealed. Serepisos stated that he and his advisers "see and hear everything". He warned everyone that he would fire anyone being dishonest. Meena later lied again to Serepisos, and ended up being fired for that sole reason.
Week 8
- Air Date: 6 April 2010
- Project managers: Karen and David
- Task: To create a 30-second television commercial for Seek.co.nz.
- Winner: Athena by default. Number 8's commercial made use of a competitor's similar slogan and, thus, was disqualified, despite winning all the categories in the task.
- Reward: Jet skiing at the beach.
- Brought into the boardroom: David, Nicky and Daniel
- Fired: Daniel Phillips
- Reasons for firing: For someone who works in the advertising agency, Daniel should have been able to pick up on the similarity of the slogans.
Week 9
- Air Date: 13 April 2010
- Project managers: Catherine and Thomas
- Task: To create a Cereal brand for NZ kids
- Winner: Athena
- Reward: Ferrari Riding at the Hampton Downs Racecourse, Near Auckland
- Brought into the boardroom: Thomas, Karen and Nicky
- Fired: Nicky Clarke
- Reasons for firing: Serepisos thought that she didn't want it as much as the others.
Week 10
- Air Date: 20 April 2010
- Project managers: Karen'' and Linda
- Task: To sell bottled water
- Winner: Number 8
- Reward: $4500 to spend at Sony Centre, New Market
- Brought into the boardroom: Linda, Catherine and David
- Fired: Linda Slade
- Reasons for firing: For poor leadership, not selling enough water and allowing herself to become distracted by Richie McCaw.
Week 11
- Air Date: 27 April 2010
- Project managers: Thomas and David
- Task: To Teach Elderly People how to use the newest technology
- Winner: Number 8
- Reward: One night at a luxury hotel and 1 phone call to their loved one
- Brought into the boardroom: David and Karen
- Fired: Karen Reid
- Reasons for firing: Despite being honest and outspoken, Karen is not seen as a team player based on her interactions with her teammates.
Week 12 (Finale, Part 1)
- Air Date: 4 May 2010
- Fired: Catherine Livingstone
- Reasons for firing: Terry felt she was a bit too untrustworthy to work for him.
- Task : To sell a luxury apartment
- Winner: Thomas Ben
Week 13 (Finale, Part 2)
- Air Date: 9 May 2010
- Task : To organize a charity fundraising auction for.
- Thomas's Team: Nicky, Paul, Catherine
- David's Team: Daniel, Linda, Karen
- Fired: David Wyatt
- The Apprentice: Thomas Ben