UK NEWS

THE APPRENTICE IS BACK

You're fired: Sir Alan Sugar

Thursday March 22,2007

By Polly Buchanan for express.co.uk

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NEXT week sees the return of The Apprentice, with Sir Alan Sugar back and firing on all cylinders.

The Amstrad tycoon has admitted to being reluctant to return for a third series after what he felt was “a lack of callibre” from the contestants last time around.

But when the show returns to our screens on Wednesday at 9pm, Sir Alan promises the best series yet.

“I didn’t want the show to become Big Brother on wheels," he says. "Part of the reason I agreed to do a third series was the selection team consulted me on the questions they should be asking.

“We’ve got a very high callibre this year and a great bunch of characters. If you’re onto a winner, you stick with it. You just polish and enhance it. That’s what we’ve done this series and it’s a great product.”

Wannabe: Apprentice Naomi Lay

The latest installment of the most ruthless reality TV show has a record 16 hopefuls and tasks ranging from designing dog accessories to selling British beef to the French at a local farmer’s market across the channel.

The first episode, in which the candidates are split into boys’ and girls’ teams has the trainee apprentices attempting to sell coffee on a busy London high street.

The boy’s team get off to a shaky start before the task even begins when their chosen team name fails to meet with Sir Alan’s approval amid a copywright row, but things perk up for them when the coffee shifting begins.

I didn’t want this show to become Big Brother on wheels.

Sir Alan Sugar

The girls, whose team name meets with instant approval from the millionaire maestro, broaden the task’s remit and offer sweets and snacks alongside the steaming hot drinks, but will they reap the rewards of their business acumen or be tripped up by the figures?

In a typically tense finale, the first episode ends with one of the new faces begging Sir Alan to change his mind at the last minute. So, has the 59-year-old magnate ever felt that he might have made a mistake?

“I’ve had to learn how to make sure that people are here for the right reasons," he says. "I can smell someone who is here for the wrong reason now.

“In the early stages it’s tough, when you see the complete programme afterwards you think, ‘Had I seen this I wouldn’t have fired them’.

“Last year Ben went too early in my opinion. Looking back at the footage, he had legs.”

Teasingly, Sir Alan says of the third series’ first loser to leave, “Perhaps they were stitched up…”

The Apprentice starts at 9pm on BBC1 on Wednesday 28th March and lasts for 12 weeks.