After 20 years on our screens, The Apprentice is back on the BBC for season 19 with Lord Alan Sugar back at the helm.
The reality show sees a group of entrepreneurs compete against each other in various business challenges to win £250,000 of Lord Alan’s money.
Throughout the intense process, they are also overseen by the 77-year-old billionaire’s trusted advisors Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell MBE.
After the series ends, the investment is put into the winner’s business idea – and they’ll also receive money-can’t-buy guidance from the 77-year-old billionaire.
The Apprentice remains one of the BBC’s biggest hits – although fans have begged the broadcaster to shake up its ‘abysmal’ format – with season 18 attracting an average of 6.6 million viewers per episode.
It was adapted from the original US show of the same name which finished in 2017 and saw US president Donald Trump, and for the final outing, Arnold Schwarzenegger, sitting at the top of the boardroom.
When does The Apprentice season 19 begin?
The Apprentice fans do not have long to wait for the return of the BBC show as it is just around the corner.
The latest instalment of The Apprentice is only days away (Picture: Fremantlemedia Limited)
Put a note in your diary for Thursday, January 30 at 9pm when the launch episode will air on BBC One and iPlayer.
Further episodes of The Apprentice will air at the same time and place every Thursday.
Who won The Apprentice season 18?
Boutique fitness studio Rachel Woolford won The Apprentice season 18 after beating pie company owner Phil Turner at the final hurdle.
Rachel won a quarter of a million pounds to invest in her fitness studio (Picture: FreemantleMedia Ltd)
That meant Lord Sugar invested the £250,000 prize money to expand her exercise company North Studio in the north of England.
Speaking of her plans for the cash injection, Rachel previously told Metro: ‘I think my and Lord Sugar’s focus will be to continue to roll out what’s already been successful but in a new location.
‘Our focus is high profit margins and I’ve been doing this for a few years now, so I know where we can save on costs. I know where we need to spend as well.
‘I’m really looking forward to doing this with somebody who…of course, he’s putting capital into the business which is amazing and it makes a huge difference to being able to open another studio, but it’s also having someone like his expertise on hand and his resources and his ideas.
‘Yes, I’m the industry expert in what I do, but he’s got years and years of business experience, which is invaluable to me.’
The Apprentice returns to BBC One and iPlayer on Thursday, January 30 at 9pm.
When is The Apprentice back on? Everything we know about the BBC show’s return