The Apprentice’s Lord Alan Sugar breaks silence on why spin-off series was axed – saying the ‘BBC made wrong decision’
The Apprentice’s Lord Alan Sugar breaks silence on why the spin-off series was axed – saying the "BBC made the wrong decision".
Junior Apprentice ran for three seasons and saw a group of young people compete against each other in a series of business-related challenges to win a £25,000 investment from Lord Sugar.
But it was sadly axed by the BBC in 2012, which Lord Sugar believes was a bad move.
Speaking at The Apprentice press launch, he said: "Junior Apprentice was my idea to do the show and the BBC decided that they didn't want to have two Apprentice programmes in the same year.
"So that was their decision, I think it was the wrong decision but anyway they're the bosses, they're the one that decides what they want to put on.
"We had some great series' and they were excellent.
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"My wife, that's the one she loved the most and she got very annoyed when they stopped doing it."
Lord Sugar said he's also got something special up his sleeve to mark the 20th anniversary of The Apprentice in 2026.
The businessman revealed: "I think what we would like to do and what I would like to do and of course the decision lies firmly with the BBC - we have another series coming up - series 19 - and then they need to do something very very special for the 20th year of The Apprentice.
"I might invite the King to come along."
Eighteen new candidates will soon begin begin the battle for a huge £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar on The Apprentice.
The eighteenth series The Apprentice will kick off on February 1, 2024 on BBC One and the iPlayer.
Lord Alan Sugar once again resides over the show, with the help of his aides Karren Brady and Tim Campbell.
Fans will be treated to 12 brand new episodes, with the show set to run every Thursday at 9pm , until April 18, 2024.
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