THE APPRENTICE RETURNS FOR LANDMARK 20th SERIES ON BBC ONE, DETAILS ON NEW SERIES REVEALED

The BAFTA award-winning business show, The Apprentice, fronted by business tycoon Lord Sugar alongside his trusted advisors Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell MBE, returns for its 20th series.

To celebrate the 20th series, there will be 20 candidates looking to impress Lord Sugar and secure his £250,000 investment in their business plan. And for the first time ever, Lord Sugar’s boardroom will move to Hong Kong in the first episode, after the 20 candidates complete a task in one of the world’s most vibrant trading hubs.

Also this year, the BBC will air the first ever full-length series of The Celebrity Apprentice in 2026. The six-part series will see a new line-up of famous faces take on weekly business challenges set by Lord Sugar, competing to avoid the words “you’re fired” and ultimately be crowned The Celebrity Apprentice winner.

Lord Sugar says: “We’ve had some great celebrity names walk into my boardroom over the years, but they’ve only ever had a small taster of what it’s like to be a candidate. It’ll be interesting to see how our future celebrities fare across a full series, removing their PAs, PRs, agents and all the other assistance they have in their day-to-day lives to fully immerse themselves into The Apprentice world.”

Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment at the BBC says: “The Apprentice is a much-loved part of the BBC’s entertainment offering and we can’t wait to see how the celebrity candidates rise to the challenge when the series launches later in 2026.”

The Apprentice is coming soon to BBC One and iPlayer.