“What’s It Called? The Ganella?”: BBC’s The Apprentice Gets A Crash Course In Maltese Culture In Latest Episode
The first episode of the 2018 series of the UK edition of The Apprentice has been released, and features the 16 male and female challengers competing for Lord Sugar’s praise by trying to find nine items around the Maltese islands.
But these aren’t any old items – they are nine items that represent the culture of Malta.
“Let’s get down to business,” opened Lord Sugar, the main host of the show. “I told you to expect the unexpected. So, for the very first task, I am kicking off with something that I have never done before. I am going to send you abroad!”
“You’re going to the spectacular Mediterranean island of Malta!”
“Valletta, the main city, is this year’s capital of culture, and to honour this I’ve selected nine items that reflect the country’s traditions and history – all you have to do is locate these items and buy them at the best price,” he explains, before ending with an cheeky “enjoy it while we are still welcome!”
We had previously seen the would-be apprentices searching for an octopus and a traditional filigree boat on our island
Challengers were also tasked with finding typical Maltese items like honey, salt, and the għonnella and the ħasira.
The search for the traditional għonnella saw the challengers visit antiques stores and stores specialising in old items as the għonnella clearly isn’t the easiest thing to find in Malta in 2018.
The male team head to an antiques store with an għonnella – but totally miss it. They only discover it by chance after they return to the shop to look for a model boat.
The girls had a bit of luck looking for the ħasira
The typical Maltese blind made of a row of bamboos can be seen all over Malta, even in 2018, making it easy to find a decent ħasira. However, the girls end up buying two ħasira, which they are criticised on as it seemed to show indecision and a failure to communicate properly between the team.
In fact, project manager Jasmine nearly gets sent home after this minor fail.
Hearing the challengers fail to pronounce the Maltese words is half the fun in itself
The male project manager, Kayode, explains what he did to seek out the items when they return to Lord Sugar after the challenge is over.
“I had myself, Tom, David and Alex. And we headed off to Ħamrun. We went to an antiques store to try to identify if we could find the filigree boat. He never had it, unfortunately. But it was serendipity because, as we left that store, that’s when we got a call from Rick, so shouts out to Rick for that, to let us know that if we do want to get the… what’s it called? The Ganella…?” asked a befuddled Kayode.
Lord Sugar’s right hand woman, Baroness Karren Brady was not impressed, correcting his pronunciation with a cold: “Għonnella”.
However, Kayode clearly isn’t getting it, instead saying “Gornella.” Eventually, he says: “Għonnella. Okay, yeah, I’m learning languages out here!”
“Let’s get it right for Lord Sugar, shall we?” she responded.
After the challenge is completed, the male team was announced as the winners, and were treated to a dinner by Maltese chef David Darmanin.
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