"Did you say I was an acquired taste?”
The start date for the 18th series of The Apprentice has been confirmed.
January usually marks the time the BBC show is on screens but the start date was delayed to make room in the BBC One schedule for The Traitors.
A teaser has now been released and the short clip shows Lord Alan Sugar addressing the unrevealed candidates in the boardroom with some classic one-liners.
He tells one candidate: “You’ve claimed you’re the Mary Poppins of business and I’m the spoonful of sugar, I suppose”.
Lord Sugar then asks another candidate:
“Did you say I was an acquired taste?”
The candidate boldly replies: “I did.”
Lord Sugar hits back: “So are you.”
It has been revealed that the launch date for the new series of The Apprentice will be on February 1, 2024, at 9 pm.
The 2024 series will take the candidates to Budapest, Hungary and the Scottish Highlands.
The tasks will include designing children’s cereal and escape rooms. The popular TV shopping channel task will also return.
Guess who's back… ?? Watch brand-new #TheApprentice on #iPlayer and #BBCOne from 1 Feb at 9pm @Lord_Sugar @karren_brady @TC_MBE pic.twitter.com/XXUV3rlkyI
— The Apprentice (@bbcapprentice) January 17, 2024
Lord Sugar will be joined by his aides Karren Brady and Tim Campbell.
And The Apprentice viewers can look forward to many more episodes of the series to come as BBC bosses are reportedly keen to secure Lord Sugar for the show until 2026.
Lord Sugar, who has been on the show since 2005, is reportedly “ready to sign a six-figure deal”.
A source previously said: “BBC producers have huge plans for The Apprentice’s 20th anniversary.
“It might be two years away but they’re aren’t prepared to take any risks and will be putting in a big-money offer he can’t refuse.”
Alongside the main show, The Apprentice: You’re Fired will also return to BBC Two, with host Tom Allen discussing that week’s episode with guests and chatting with the latest fired candidate.
Karren Brady previously teased: “I think what I can say is, I think we’ve got the most incredible set of candidates ever this year.
“We have got a doctor, we’ve got a dentist, we’ve got a pharmacist, we’ve got really highly qualified individuals.”
“So I think perhaps it’s the most credible list of candidates we’ve ever had.”
The 2023 series was won by Marnie Swindells, who gained his investment for her community boxing gym proposal.
With 18 new candidates vying for Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment, it will be interesting to see the Asian candidates and what they will bring to the show.
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