THE task: sell hot tubs on a stand at Southampton Boat Show.

The best bit for us viewers: hearing one contestant describe her four remaining rivals as “weaklings... spineless little worms.”

Last night's Natural Born Sellers has, it's fair to say, bombed big time in the ratings stakes. But you won't hear me complaining that this poor man's version of The Apprentice is a load of old tosh that has obviously copied a hugely popular formula and failed.

Because for me the show captures that great toe-curling magic that attracts us to reality TV shows in the first place. And last night's show was true car crash TV for one of the contestants who was a tormented soul after facing crushing pressure to shift the hot tubs to 100,000 trade show visitors who really didn't look like they wanted to buy a hot tub.

Why anyone goes on these shows really is beyond me. Can you imagine having every cringeworthy moment and every character weakness exposed under huge pressure magnified on TV? And all without even so much as a promise of meeting Sir Alan Sugar.