Quiet man Maj became the third Apprentice candidate to be fired as Ignite enjoyed a clear victory over Empire in rearranged teams.
Before the task began, Kim and Kate moved from Ignite to the formerly all-boys’ team Empire with Noorul and Phil moving the other way.
For the third task, Sir Alan asked the teams to invent a piece of portable home fitness equipment and pitch it to three retailers.
The team who took the most orders would be declared as the winners.
Empire, led by James who narrowly escaped being fired last week, made the better start.
They quickly came up with a product aimed at exercising various different muscles but faltered on choosing its name - even considering The Bingo Buster and The Wing Worker.
Ignite, managed by abrasive team leader Debra, were lost in a whirl of indecision until Philip came up with a rival to the Swiss Ball at the last minute.
Empire finally came to their senses, dropped the daft names and branded it as the Home Multi-Toner.
But it was a brand as bland as the product’s appearance.
Unsurprisingly, they struggled to pitch their black box of tricks to the three retailers – Powerhouse, John Lewis and Totally Fitness – with the latter also criticising it for effectively being a cheap multi-gym.
Meanwhile, Ignite leader Debra’s main worry, even as they headed in a taxi to their first pitch, was the ability of Lorraine to sell their product.
But, after an uncertain start, Lorraine improved and it was Yasmina who nearly made a major mistake during the John Lewis pitch.
The result was a clear win for Ignite, however. Indeed, it was one of the clearest in Apprentice history.
They still received 10,000 orders from John Lewis to put alongside their 80 from Powerhouse and 100 from Totally Fitness.
Empire received only 500 orders in total, all of them from John Lewis, and Sir Alan was even more scathing than usual in his attack on the losers.
He shouted: “You totally missed your target audience. You totally missed what the market wants.
“You came up with some lump of wood and you're sitting here wondering why you didn't get any orders.
"I know why you didn't get any orders! The whole thing sucks!"
As Ignite enjoyed a private recital from Katherine Jenkins, James found himself fighting for his Apprentice existence for the second successive week.
He brought Ben and Maj back into the boardroom and criticised the appearance of his own team’s product after the changes made to it by these colleagues.
Sir Alan suggested James was not heavily enough involved in the task while aide Margaret Mountford that Empire had lost focus on their target market.
James, who seemed constantly on the verge of tears, remained on dodgy ground throughout the boardroom confrontation.
And this was even more so the case after Ben accused him of making a lot of noise for little end product.
Ben successfully argued that he was the only team member to come up with an idea and was absolved by Sir Alan.
But, in an unexpected twist, Margaret defended James’s management style. She told Sir Alan that it was nothing like his occasionally loutish behaviour in the boardroom.
Suddenly the attention turned to Maj for his laidback attitude.
And he reinforced the perception by struggling to put up a defence, admitting later that he was unprepared for being under attack.
Even in the black cab after his firing, Maj only said: “I feel as if Alan Sugar didn’t get to see the best of me.”
Back in the boardroom, Sir Alan explained: “My instincts are that I can’t really have someone that is perceived not to contribute and you may not agree with this – but Maj, you’re fired.”
Sir Alan’s three firings so far have all suggested he has been getting rid of some ‘dead wood’ before the main competition begins.
And Sir Alan left James in no doubt as to his uncertain position after his second narrow escape.
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