The Apprentice fans question the missing contenders as Aaron and Francesca uncomfortably explain

Apprentice viewers wondered where some of the contenders were as the final episode aired on Thursday when Aaron, Sophie and Francesca were, among others, nowhere to be seen.

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The Apprentice: Aaron and Akeem warm up with a double shot

Several of The Apprentice’s nominees were significantly missing from Thursday’s final episode – but they explained their absences.

Viewers couldn’t help but scratch their heads as they watched the final season of the much-loved reality show when they noticed that some of the fired candidates had disappeared.

As the show progressed, curious fans flocked to Twitter to question the placement of Aaron Willis, Sophie Wilding and Francesca Kennedy Wallbank for the final.

“Actually, where is Aaron,” one fan asked on Twitter.

“Why is there no good candidate even in the final. Strange,” another repeated.

“Aaron and Sophie are MIA. How did they decide who did and didn’t come back in the last episode? Wish Aaron was back rather than Harry,” another pointed out.

But as it turns out, Aaron had a pretty good reason not to show up to the final episode.

The reality TV star revealed his absence was due to his burning desire to celebrate his wedding anniversary.

On his Instagram, Aaron wrote: “I don’t have time to reply to all your DMs and every one of you has been asking about whether I am a finalist and why I am not a finalist, etc

“Honestly, those were purely selfish reasons, I was fired and I had to come back home a week later to watch the final.

“I’m always aware now that if I make it to the final, I’ll miss the celebration for me and Vicki and we always say if we miss that celebration we know you’ve made it.” Now I’ve been away from my wife and kids for 10 weeks and when I was laid off, I missed my family so much and wanted to spend more time with them.

“So the thought of if I come back home for another week or so or spend some quality time with Vicki and spend my anniversary and my family will always come first in that respect. Sorry I didn’t. was there but I spent my anniversary with my wife and I’m a viewer of Your Hired so keep that in mind.

“But the girls totally broke it tonight and got a really good, really deserving finalist there. Enjoy the show because trust me it’s an absolute, thanks .”

Francesca Kennedy Wallbank also explained her absence from Instagram.

The blonde beauty shared a stunned photo of herself soaking up the sunshine on a yacht and she explained that she had previously booked a holiday around the same time as the final.

“Everybody was asking if I’d be back for the final tonight… unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it in time because I booked a much-needed vacation,” she wrote.