THE task that all of the candidates secretly look forward to – a trip overseas.

But this week’s challenge was never going to be a holiday, tasked with creating a new brand of soft drink designed for the American market.

As soon as the challenge was announced, it was clear where everyone’s hearts lay – across the pond.

The awkward conversation that saw Mark and Bianca select which of their teams would inevitably join them in New York and which would stay in glamorous Luton was hilarious as everyone desperately put their case forward. James was particularly vocal, but what else would you expect?!

The critical aspect of this task was the ability to work together despite being in different time zones.

Here is where both teams struggled, as it was like we had four teams working against each other this week.

You have to work together and communicate effectively, remembering that if you win, no-one gets fired, but this week it seemed to be lacking more than normal.

I was really impressed with Summit’s 'Big Dawg' energy drink. The team clearly got the need for powerful messaging for the US market, demonstrated through the vibrant colours and slogan, ‘our bark is as strong as our bite’.

This, combined with a good pitch, meant that US buyers could see the product on the shelves.

As usual, there were a number of potential candidates for the boot. Mark for me is still one of the favourites in the process, but as I mentioned last week he should let his talent do the talking and stop looking to catch people out.

Though he was certainly the most composed of the three in the pitch, you could see him pinning the blame on his teammates a mile off, even before the task was over! If he’s not careful, this could be his downfall.

Daniel’s poor branding meant that his neck was also placed on the block. As he himself admitted, he’s like a cat – the only problem is he’s running out of lives. 

I feel Mark did him a favour by bringing him back into the boardroom, as this was for tactical reasons and to save Mark’s own back, and Lord Sugar saw through this.

Nevertheless, Daniel needs to prove himself over the next couple of weeks or he too could be out of the door.

If you had told me Lauren would go a couple of weeks ago, I’d have thought you were mad, as she was one of the frontrunners, excelling as a tour guide in the tour bus task.

However, the last few weeks have seen her contribute little to the team effort, and I felt her exit was inevitable when she lost her way in the pitch.

You have to be confident when pitching and full of enthusiasm, but she lacked this, fumbling through her lines.

I felt sorry for her, as she is clearly very intelligent and will go on to be successful, but she is not Lord Sugar’s business partner.

It’s that time again – what were the funniest moments? ‘Felipe Scorsese’ entertained me throughout the show this week, while James’s comment that ‘the world is as big as our oyster’ only reminded me never to visit a seafood restaurant he runs!

But the funniest moment without a doubt has to be Daniel’s branding idea of ‘Love Water’ – maybe he was thinking you could drink this while playing Relationship Guru?!

It was a week in which the girls shone, with Bianca leading her team to victory. However, the real front-runner for the process is Roisin, who again contributed massively to the success of the task.

She reminds me of Leah from last year, effectively showing that you don’t have to shout the loudest to be heard, and the rest is history.

Neil Clough was a semi-finalist in the 2013 series of The Apprentice. He grew up in Warrington and attended Woolston High School.