The Apprentice: the 2013 candidates in the line of fire of Lord Sugar

 
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Maxine Frith2 May 2013
The Weekender

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A ballerina, a doctor and someone who admits he’s never been “formally employed” are among the wannabe entrepreneurs who will battle it out in the new series of The Apprentice.

The reality show is returning for a ninth season next week with Lord Sugar presiding over the boardroom, alongside regular sidekicks Karren Brady and Nick Hewer.

But producers have promised new twists and a beefed-up format in which the contestants will have to reveal their business ideas at the start of the show, rather than towards the end as has happened previously.

Instead of being given a job by Lord Sugar, the winner will receive a £250,000 investment from the multi-millionaire businessman and partnership with him in developing their idea.

Ratings for the show fell during the last season and last month Lord Sugar was sued by former winner Stella English, who claimed at an employment tribunal that she had simply been an “overpaid lackey” with no proper job.

She lost her case, with Lord Sugar claiming the ruling was a victory over the “claim culture” in the workplace.

Lord Sugar said of the new series: “This process is not about a job, it’s about me ploughing £250,000 into a business.

“This is an unbelievable opportunity - for me to choose you, you’ve got to be brilliant.”

This season’s 16 contestants include 32-year-old Francesca MacDuff-Varley, a classically-trained dancer who runs a ballet studio and said: “I’m prepared to fight to the death to become Lord Sugar’s business partner.”

She will compete with Londoner Jason Leech, 29, who describes himself as a “historian and property entrepreneur” and who admits he has never had a formal job.

The youngest contestant is 22-year-old Sophie Lau, who began running her own restaurant at the age of 19, while the oldest is Jaz Ampaw-Farr, 41, a mother-of-three who owns a literacy and education company.

All the contestants will live in a luxury house in central London for the duration of their time in the show.

Their first challenge will kick off at midnight, when they will be split into teams and given a shipping container of goods to sell in the capital within 24 hours.

Once the crown in the BBC’s spring programming schedule. last year’s premiere of The Apprentice pulled in 6.4 million viewers, a drop of 1.4 million on the 2011 series.

The first episode will air on BBC One at 9pm on May 7.

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