The Apprentice 2011: Estate agent Alex Britez Cabral is second to be fired as the rows begin between candidates

By Ben Todd and Jessica Satherley

Last updated at 11:49 PM on 11th May 2011

It is the series that traditionally pits somewhat large egos and vaulted ambitions against one another as they bid for Lord Sugar’s favour.

And following the second episode of The Apprentice tonight, the rows and confrontations between the budding entrepreneurs began in earnest.

Speaking to the Mail after being fired, estate agent Alex Britez Cabral launched a bitter attack on fellow contestant Leon Doyle.

You're fired: Alex Britez Cabral is second to be fired by Lord Sugar as the new series of The Apprentice kicks off

Still searching: Lord Alan Sugar has lost one more of his contestants but is still looking for his future apprentice

Entrepeneur Doyle was Britez Cabral’s project manager in the second episode, which again saw the men pitted against the women.

Their task was to create a mobile phone application though, as in the first episode, the women proved more successful.

And tonight Britez Cabral told how he believed Doyle should have been fired - instead of him - following their defeat.

He stormed: ‘We’re looking at why we failed? 

‘And the person whose door you have to knock on is Leon’s. He picked the wrong people for the wrong roles and we paid the price.’

‘We lost the task and the blame lies with him [Leon].’

In the programme, Doyle – who has already appeared on rival show Dragons’ Den before - was seen changing his mind before choosing the two fellow contestants who would appear with him in front of Lord Sugar following their defeat.

He initially planned to take Jim Eastwood and Britez Cabral into the boardroom with him.

Facing Lord Sugar: Glenn Ward, Leon Doyle and Alex Britez Cabral sit at the boardroom table as they face their fate

Showdown: Glenn, Leon and Alex Britez Cabral launch into an argument over who should be sent home after their second task

However, after Westwood complained – Doyle made a U-turn and brought Glenn Ward into the boardroom with him and Britez Cabral instead.

Britez Cabral told the Mail: ‘Leon changed his mind. We were all under a lot of pressure in that process but his judgement was clouded at that moment.

'He didn’t have a clear vision or a clear head. There is an inherent weakness in character there. To change who you’re taking in is just ludicrous. Leon changed his mind and chose to bring me back in.

'Whether or not I should have been there or Glenn, should have been there, there was a very strong argument that Leon should have definitely brought Jim back in - as he was part of the pitching team who didn’t do the job well enough.’

Britez Cabral, 28, admitted it was ‘very disappointing’ to have been axed so early on in the competition.

You're fired: Lord Alan Sugar tells Alex he's fired as he sits next to Karren Brady and Nick Hewer

Winning team: As the men lost for a second time in a row, the women won the task again, despite some bickering during their project

However, he insisted Lord Sugar had not made the right decision labelling it 'misjudged'.

When asked why the men’s team lost both of the first two tasks, Britez Cabral said: ‘That was very hard to swallow.  But I think there are a lot of big personalities who end up destroying each other.’

After Lord Sugar briefed the contestants about his mobile phone application task, the contestants were given two days to design and launch their application, which would then be put live online for 24 hours to test its success.

The App with the most downloads would win, the least would lose.

The men came up with a slang application, named 'slangatang', which gives users local slang words and phrases from different regions around the world.

But when they pitched their idea to one online magazine, it was seen as possibly racist  - reinforcing derogatory stereotypes of regional accents.

Group hug: They might have had their disagreements throughout the task but after winning the App project, the girls were best friends again

Victory drink: The winning team were treated to an exclusive lunch and wine, which was organised by Lord Sugar to say congratulations

Meanwhile, the women came up with the idea of creating annoying noises that can be downloaded and named it 'Ampi Apps', with Edna Agbarha stepping up to become Project Manager.

But despite their pitches seeming even more unsuccessful than their competitors, they ended up securing more downloads than the men.

After six hours online, the boys' application received 3,000 downloads, while the girls had just under 1,000.

But there was a quick change from the 24 hour figures and the final number of downloads for the men was 3,951 and the girls' final figure jumped to 10,667

So as the winning team got to enjoy an exclusive lunch to celebrate, the losers were taken back into the boardroom.

The men didn't want to admit that they had made any mistakes and were blasted by Lord Sugar, who said:  'Your stuff was viewed by the world and the world said 'No Thanks'. The application was not liked by the world market.'

Lord Sugar also felt that the men's description of their application let them down and was boring.

The applications: The women's team created Ampi Apps of annoying noises, while the men created Slangatang - consisting of regional slang phrases from around the world

Dress up: The boys dressed as regional stereotypes to pitch their idea of their slangatang application - including an Australian, and Irishman and a Scouse

While in the boardroom, Glen fought for himself, saying that although their App was his idea, the project manager should have the final say of what idea should be used and take responsibility.

Leon fought for his survival too and told Alex: 'I guarantee you're not going to make it to the final.'

Lord Sugar agreed with Leon and told Alex: 'You are a good talker but I'm not starting a business based around writing speeches.'

Sugar then said that Leon was saved because he has his own business, while Alex has a reputation for not doing anything or pulling his weight. 

But Leon was warned that he wouldn't be given another chance if he's back in the boardroom again.

Britez Cabral followed Edward Hunter in being dumped from the competition.

The pitch: The boys pitched their idea to an online magazine but were told that the regional slang phrases could be perceived as racist and portray derogatory stereotypes

Brainstorming: The women as they came up with their idea of Ampy Apps while sitting around together as a group

The first episode of the new series peaked at 8.4million viewers, up by a million on the corresponding episode the previous year.

They saw trained accountant Hunter – from Reading, Berkshire – become the first contestant fired after leading the men to defeat.

Hunter, 25, left his accountancy firm before the programme was filmed and is currently unemployed.

Instead, Hunter – who is Afghani-British -  is looking for investors to help him launch an Afghani curry sauce.

He plans to name the sauce Atta’s Afghan Josh – Atta being his middle name. He also promised to give a portion of the profits to the charity Help for Heroes.

Speaking of the viewing figures for the new series, Mark Linsey  - Controller of BBC Entertainment Commissioning - said: ‘How brilliant to see that The Apprentice is still thrilling BBC One viewers.  We're delighted that so many people enjoyed the show last night.’

Lord Sugar added that it was ‘fantastic’ news.

Self promotion: The girls walk around an exhibition centre in London to promote their application of annoying noises

Look who's back: The Apprentice contestants wait back at the house to see who will come back from the boardroom and who has been fired