NEIL Clough was uncharacteristically quiet in week three of The Apprentice.

But we did get to learn another of the former Warrington businessman’s pearls of wisdom.

This time the candidates, competing for Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment, had to come up with an innovative new design for flatpack furniture.

And Neil revealed the secret to his success just moments before pitching to Argos - the ‘sales orgasm’.

The former Woolston High School pupil told his fellow team Endeavour candidates, with a straight face, that the key to getting a retailer to commit is getting them to say ‘yes’ three times.

It was all going well with another confident pitch from the 33-year-old until teammate Alex bent down to assemble the ‘Foldo’, the table that turns into a chair, with his back to the potential buyers.

Lord Sugar’s aide Nick Hewer watched aghast as Alex presented his ‘rather wide backside’ to the panel.

The girls on team Evolve were not having any more luck.

Their design, the ‘Tidy Sidey’, was like something out of Inspector Gadget with a tray, a seat and a storage solution all-in-one.

Karren Brady said: “Those that are pitching to high-end retailers will be standing there next to a box on wheels.”

And that is how it came across at their pitches with only 174 units sold.

Meanwhile, despite a flawed design, everyone - including Lord Sugar - seemed to like Alex’s ‘Foldo’ concept and the 3,216 sales spoke for themselves.

So it was another victory for the boys as Sophie left the process.