■ THE Apprentice star Alan Sugar appears determined to show that Gary Lineker is not the only big BBC name to cause controversy with his social media posts.

In this week’s edition of his programme, contestants took on the challenge of creating dog food. And, referring to the reaction of one pet, Lord Sugar remarked on Twitter: ‘I think the dog looked a bit sad, as if he was going to appear in North Korea MasterChef.’

The reference to the East Asian taste for dog meat is not the first time the tycoon’s joked about a racial stereotype.

In 2018, he was forced to apologise after he shared a snap of the Senegal football team, with a superimposed image of a towel in front of them, laden with sunglasses and handbags for sale.

He commented: ‘I recognise some of these guys from the beach in Marbella. Multi-tasking, resourceful chaps.’