Um, why is everybody so surprised that Lucinda got fired? You didn't really think Mr. Appiddles an' Ordangezzz was going to hire an over privileged SoCoDu sort, did you?

The only reason she lasted as long as she did was because she managed to escape the boardroom until Week 11 - because she is such a "people person." So innocuous was she that no one was going to haul her back in - 'cause she was probably the only person who listened to them dither and drivel off camera.

It was plain to see that Bill was not fond of Lucinda from the offset. She rubbed him up the wrong way early on in the process, trilling out of turn in the boardroom which lead to a curt request to zip it from Mr. Glencullen. He didn't take her seriously, nor did he want to, a point which is only highlighted further by the blatant fact that he fired her the first chance he got. She was on the losing team the grand total of twice, and was only once brought back into the board room - because Steve Rayner had no other option but to. Indeed, her three wise men concept to peddle Appleby jewellery was utter knickers, but what exactly did Steve do, eh? He put "his entire faith" in Lucinda and left her to it - that being hanging herself... but not before suggesting some joke shop crowns to weigh her down further.

In the boardroom, Steve repeatedly reminded Bill that he is a lean, mean, selling machine - with an accent which usually instils a feeling of slight inferiority in some of us. But that same accent might work against him in the long run. He'll make it to the final, alright (Stephen's lack of people skills will only serve to alienate the interviewers next week. However, if he repeatedly gets their names wrong, he might win them over with some poetry), but it's becoming increasingly likely that the Bill/Jackie hybrid (75% Bill's inner city gumption and 35% Jackie's eyebrows) will scamper home the winner. But wouldn't that make for predictable telly...

As for Lucinda, it's very easy to say this now given she's gone, but I never warmed to her. It could be because she gives off the impression that she's yet to be touched by the darker side of life (if she has, fair play to her for keeping up a veneer which I dashed, oh, over a decade ago), and - if I'm being honest - I find that hugely irritating. That'd be my blantant bitterness seeping out, you see. There was the wittering, the wilfully naive suggestion of hiring some immigrant to clean their house during the B&Q task, and her tolerance of Sam. But her interview in today's Irish Daily Mail has done nothing but fortify my presumption. Behold the quotes:

"Bill says I'm a very nice person, which is b******* (indeed it is, he just didn't like her). You have to be nice on national TV. He said 'Regrettably, you're fired.' I hope he does have regrets. I think Bill made a really big mistake and he'll see that over the next year." In all seriousness, Lucinda, I doubt you'll be on his radar after today.

Of the three finalists, she said: "Steve would be very one-dimensional, Stephen is aggressive and has a lot of growing up to do, and (here comes the best bit) would you give Geraldine a €100,000 salary? It's a lot for somebody still learning. He could have got me for a very cheap price." Because Lucinda, you see, is worth so much more than €100k. She'd be beavering away, whereas Geraldine would be going bananas in a hot tub made of solid gold, filled with fivers.

Patrice Harrington, who conducted the interview, continues with: "I get to hear about her Kildare home with its four acres and stables, her obsession with horses, the house she bought in Stillorgan in 2003, its extension, the house she is building in the adjacent site, and the 120-acre estate - including a castle - her family owns in Wicklow." If that wasn't enough to unleash your inner begrudger,  Lucinda then came out with this cracker: "Dad made me write a business plan for my first pony, which I got in the Buy and Sell when I was 16.'" We're not sure where that plan is now, but she does have designs on launching a website for horsey sorts: "It's an online classifieds for equestrian folk. I'm also working on a mainstream classifieds' site. Ben Dunne, watch out! Have you seen his site? Terrible!"

And, just to prove she's learned from her immigrant request during the B&Q task: "I use Indians. I have to be careful I don't sound racist. They work long hours and you get a lot of bang for your buck." Nice.

Finally, she said of Bill: "He's got balls to go on the programme when his business is failing at the moment. He would be necky and probably a bit of a chancer, whereas I'm honest and probably wouldn't fit into his kind of necky environment."

Yep, only the truly privileged can have the luxury of unabashed "honesty", for they rarely have anything to lose.