The Apprentice final pits 'business Barbie' against doctor with a dream - The Guardian

One claims to have the "energy of a Duracell bunny, sex appeal of Jessica Rabbit and a brain like Einstein". The other is a doctor who said the worst lie she had ever told was that she was a dress size six.

Luisa Zissman, the self-styled "business Barbie" who runs a cupcake shop in St Albans, and Dr Leah Totton, who wants to open a high street cosmetic clinic, will battle it out in Wednesday's final of BBC1's The Apprentice.

The prize is £250,000 of investment backing from Lord Sugar, the business guru and former football chairman who has glowered over the series since it began on BBC2 in 2005.

For how much longer remains to be seen. His long-time right-hand man Nick Hewer (who also presents Channel 4's Countdown) said last week that Sugar could call it a day after next year's series – the 10th – because it was distracting him from his other business interests.

The current series has been greeted by critics as a return to form after a lacklustre outing last year. But ratings have been in decline, with this year's launch watched by just over 6 million viewers, the fewest since the first series on BBC1 six years ago.

With an average overnight audience of between 6 and 7 million viewers, it nevertheless remains a valuable property for the BBC, which has already signed up for next year.

Ben Preston, editor of Radio Times, said: "I think they quite deliberately went for louder candidates. It's been a much more raucous series and, frankly, more entertaining for it."

The programme's format was changed two years ago, with Sugar giving his backing to the winning candidate's business idea – in return for a 50% share of the business – rather than employing them as his £100,000-a-year apprentice.

It had an unintended consequence in last week's penultimate episode when regional sales manager Neil Clough, patently Sugar's favourite candidate, was fired because his business idea – for a property website – was deemed to be "crap".

"The conceptual heart of the show has changed," said Preston. "It's The Apprentice at the start and Dragons' Den at the end. That's quite a difficult switch."

Zissman made it to the final despite being told that her bakery business plan was "half-baked". Totton has no previous business experience.

But Patrick Holland, managing director of The Apprentice producer Boundless, said the twist gave the show a new vigour.

"We have seen a different type of candidate apply, more entrepreneurial people who have been drawn to the £250,000 investment and the possibilities that can bring," he said.

"Someone like Leah, a doctor with business ambitions, wouldn't have applied five years ago. People are quite cynical, they say they're identikit characters, but I really don't think you have that at all. We got some exceptional candidates."

The Apprentice, which will finish with a two-hour special on Wednesday, is on course to match the overnight audience for last year's final, of 6.7 million viewers. But that was down from the 9.1 million who tuned in when the inventor Tom Pellereau won in 2011.

Sugar made no secret of his irritation when the BBC axed his spin-off series Young Apprentice last year. He said at the series launch this year that The Apprentice would last "as long as we can continue to find interesting and different characters".

He added: "Television is a product and like any product they will make the decision simply by the reaction in the marketplace." He's not about to be fired just yet.

And then there were two – the Apprentice finalists

Luisa Zissman

What she says: "When people look at me they see a young girl with nails, hair extensions, fake boobs and just assume I am this stupid little Barbie that floats along in life. If you are weak I will have you for dinner. If in doubt, smile and pout."

What Lord Sugar says: "She has been a handful, but she has pulled in the results. Is this one too hot to handle? My worry is, do I need the aggravation of somebody who is not going to listen, doesn't like it when told to do something else? Not really."

Leah Totton

What she says: "Working as a doctor, nothing will ever compare to attending an arrest call where it is literally a matter of life and death. I am a blue sky thinker, I am quite glamorous, I am also a fantastic business mind. I've sort of got everything really."

What Lord Sugar says: "Scientists, doctors and boffins are the worst people in the world for business. You have got that unusual quality of being a good business person but at the same time a scientist and a doctor, which is a unique combination."