Everyone’s talking about…

the apprentice

Here are five behind-the-scenes secrets from the cutthroat show (BBC1,

Wed, 9.00pm)…

Selection process

From thousands of candidates who apply online, some are invited for regional interviews, then 75 are invited to London to test their skills and teamwork. The number is whittled down to 30, then psychotherapists evaluate them and their references are checked before the final line-up is selected.

Boardroom blitz

The boardroom scenes are filmed in a studio in Acton, West London. The Bridge Cafe, where losing teams hold their post-mortems, is also in Acton and is now something of a local tourist attraction!

Taskmaster

Lord Sugar devises the tasks himself with help from the production team. ‘He knows what skills he wants to test and how they should be tested,’ says Karren.

Busy schedule

The tasks are filmed over two months, and the candidates really do get up early – as do Karren and Claude Littner. ‘When you’re up at four in the morning you wonder why you are doing it!’ laughs Claude.

The winner is...

Lord Sugar doesn’t decide the winner until the day the final airs, so two endings are filmed. Bizarrely, the shots of each candidate leaving in a taxi after being fired from the boardroom are all filmed at the start of the process!