Davey departed the show of his own accord on Monday night having made it into the final five after ten weeks on the show. He explained afterward that he felt "he couldn't win" and that he needed to get back to "real-life".

"Everyone is up against Brenda," said Shane, after he walked off the show. "Whenever you were with her you thought she would win because she was so strong, and when you were against her you thought it would be very difficult to win the task - she was the only person I felt like I was competing against on the other team."

The Jacobs' senior account manager explained that he expected Kilmallock's Brenda, who owns a bridal shop in Charleville and has only been on the losing team on one occasion, to scoop the €100,000 apprenticeship with business tycoon Bill Cullen.

Shane said: "All of the ideas came from her, she is very sensible and looked at things in a logical manner. Brenda would be my favourite to win it. I wasn't going to win, so I didn't want to waste another two weeks on the show."

The show has become one of the most talked about currently airing on television, with decent viewership figures and with just two episodes left there appears to be a groundswell of opinion that the hard-working Brenda is well in with a shout to conquer her rivals on the reality tv show.

The 32 year old mum of one, speaking before she started on the show, explained why she thought she was she well suited for the show.

"I work until I bleed. I'm doing this for the competition, not for the fame," said Brenda. "I'm good with conceptual ideas, and most importantly of all, I have left my child, husband and business to participate in the programme. I didn't gamble them all for nothing."
The Apprentice is broadcast on Mondays at 9pm on TV3.