The Apprentice (British TV series) series 18
| The Apprentice | |
|---|---|
| Series 18 | |
| Starring | |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One |
| Original release | 1 February 2024 |
| Series chronology | |
The eighteenth series of British reality television series The Apprentice premiered on 1 February 2024 in the UK on BBC One.[1] Karren Brady and Tim Campbell returned as Lord Sugar's aides.[2][3] The eighteen candidates competing in the series were revealed on 23 January 2024.[4]
Production
In January 2023, whilst the previous series was airing, the BBC announced applications were open for the eighteenth series.[5][6] The applications closed on 29 January 2023.[7] In November 2023, it was confirmed that the series would be pushed back to February 2024 instead of the usual slot due to the second series of The Traitors launching in January.[8][9][10] The first teaser for the new series was revealed on 17 January 2024.[11]
Before the series, Lord Sugar spoke during an interview with The Times announcing his plans to "tone down" the penultimate "interviews" episode for this series, following the controversy surrounding the interrogations from the interviewers in the previous series, which Sugar himself said he found "hard to watch."[12][13] His aide Karren Brady defended the segment of the process however, insisting that she wasn't trying to upset the candidates, [during the interviews] however added that "resilience" was critical for running a successful business.[14]
Series overview
Candidates
| Candidate | Background | Age | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florence "Flo" Edwards | Recruitment consultant | 29 | |
| Foluso Falade | Project manager | 25 | |
| Maura Rath | Yoga company owner | 33 | |
| Noor Bouziane | Jewellery company owner | 22 | |
| Rachel Woolford | Boutique fitness studio owner | 27 | |
| Onyeka Nweze | Chartered company secretary | 25 | |
| Paul Midha | Dental practice owner | 29 | |
| Phil Turner | Pie company owner | 37 | |
| Raj Chohan | Mortgage broker | 41 | |
| Samantha "Sam" Saadet | Perinatal fitness coach | 33 | |
| Steve Darken | Management consultant | 37 | |
| Tre Lowe | Musician & wellness entrepreneur | 48 | |
| Virdi Singh Mazaria | Music producer | 24 | |
| Jack Davies | Recruitment director | 29 | Fired in the fourth task |
| Amina Khan | Pharmacist & business owner | 32 | |
| Asif Munaf | Doctor & wellness brand owner | 34 | Fired in the third task |
| Paul Bowen | Pie company director | 34 | Fired in the second task |
| Oliver "Ollie" Medforth | Sales executive | 27 | Fired in the first task |
Performance chart
| Candidate | Task Number | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||
| Flo | IN | IN | WIN | IN | |||||||||
| Foluso | IN | WIN | IN | IN | |||||||||
| Maura | IN | IN | IN | BR | |||||||||
| Noor | IN | IN | IN | IN | |||||||||
| Onyeka | WIN | IN | BR | BR | |||||||||
| Paul M. | IN | IN | IN | IN | |||||||||
| Phil | IN | LOSE | IN | BR | |||||||||
| Rachel | IN | IN | IN | IN | |||||||||
| Raj | IN | IN | IN | WIN | |||||||||
| Sam | IN | IN | BR | BR | |||||||||
| Steve | BR | IN | IN | IN | |||||||||
| Tre | IN | IN | IN | IN | |||||||||
| Virdi | LOSE | IN | IN | BR | |||||||||
| Jack | IN | IN | IN | FIRED | |||||||||
| Amina | IN | IN | BR | FIRED | |||||||||
| Asif | IN | BR | FIRED | ||||||||||
| Paul B. | IN | FIRED | |||||||||||
| Ollie | FIRED | ||||||||||||
- The candidate won this series of The Apprentice.
- The candidate was the runner-up.
- The candidate won as project manager on their team, for this task.
- The candidate lost as project manager on their team, for this task.
- The candidate was on the winning team for this task / they passed the Interviews stage.
- The candidate was on the losing team for this task.
- The candidate was brought to the final boardroom for this task.
- The candidate was fired in this task.
- The candidate lost as project manager for this task and was fired.
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [15] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 209 | 1 | "Highlands Corporate Away Day" | 1 February 2024 | 6.24 | |
|
The teams are sent to the Scottish Highlands and challenged to host a corporate retreat at Cawdor Castle. They must construct a tour of the area, provide lunch, and create a team building activity. The women focus on a tour of the Highlands’ waterways with a team building exercise themed on Highland games, serving fish cakes and rhubarb crumble for lunch. The women secure a profit, despite ensuing refunds due to issues with the lunch service, including the use of the wrong ingredient in the fish cakes. The men focus on a ‘land tour’, serve toad in the hole and brownies for lunch, and have a highland dancing-themed team building course. The men face issues with time management and underprepared food, which leads to refunds and a net loss. The men are sent to the boardroom to face their failure of the task. Of the final three, Oliver Medford is the first to be fired for contributing too little to the task.[16] | |||||
| 210 | 2 | "Cheesecakes" | 8 February 2024 | 6.32 | |
|
Lord Sugar tasks the teams with creating two sets of mini cheesecakes; one set to punt to the public, and one set for a corporate client. The men create white chocolate cheesecakes for the publi, and dragon fruit and avocado cheesecakes for their corporate client; they face issues with costings, negotiations with their difficult client, and selling prices. The women create mango cheesecakes for the public, and fig-flavoured cheesecakes for their client; they sell well and control their costs, but face issues with logistics. In the boardroom, it is revealed that the women’s profits were higher than the men’s, leaving them facing questions over their strategy. Out of the final three, Paul Bowen is dismissed for pushing the wrong type of cheesecake to the client in initial negotiations and for making too many mistakes on a task tailored to his line of work. | |||||
| 211 | 3 | "Virtual Escape Rooms" | 15 February 2024 | N/A | |
|
Escape rooms are the theme of a new virtual experience that the teams must create - they have to come up with a concept and develop a and then pitch it to industry experts. Nexus creates a medieval style experience, themed around trying to create a cure for a Black Death type plague, which is seen as having a feeling of resembling a game rather than an escape room. Supream creates an experience themed around survival on a deserted island where nothing is as it seems, which is seen as being confusing. In the end, Nexus’ concept is voted the best, with Supream being critiqued on their failure. Four of the team are called back, out of which Dr. Asif Munaf is fired for not living up to his promises from his last boardroom appearance and not providing clear instructions to his team. | |||||
| 212 | 4 | "Discount Buying" | 22 February 2024 | N/A | |
|
Lord Sugar sends the teams to Jersey, having in the previous episode tasked them with purchasing nine items associated with the island, for the cheapest price. Nexus manages to secure eight of the items correctly, with generally good negotiations and a clear strategy, although lots of time was wasted waiting around for certain items. Supream manages to secure seven items, but suffered from a clear lack of strategy once they started buying along with poor negotiations from all team members. The sub-team in particular spends much of the day running around unfocused. Adding to that one of the bought items is wrong, and another fine for being late. In the boardroom, Supream’s spending is revealed to be far greater than Nexus, leaving the entire team to face scrutiny by Lord Sugar over their performance, with the loss being cited as potentially the worst performance seen on a discount task to date. Of the losing team, Amina Khan is dismissed for her lack of control over the sub-team, while Lord Sugar also fires Jack Davies for his weak leadership and maligned strategy. | |||||
| 213 | 5 | "Formula E" | 29 February 2024 | N/A | |
| 214 | 6 | "Cereal" | 7 March 2024 | N/A | |
References
- ^ "Episode 1 of the new series the 18 candidates will be in the Scottish highlands doing a cooperate away day. Virgin radio reveals first details about series 18". Virgin Radio. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "The Apprentice is back with Lord Sugar for its 18th series". Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "BBC's The Apprentice to return in 2024 with its 18th series". Stourbridge News. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "The Apprentice 2024 candidates - Meet the hopefuls vying for Lord Sugar's investment in series 18". BBC Media Centre. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
- ^ "BBC The Apprentice: How to apply for 2024 series". Wandsworth Times. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "How to apply to be on The Apprentice for next series to be shown in 2024". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "Applications for The Apprentice are now closed". Planet Radio. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "The Apprentice teases season 18 with first look photo". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "The new series of The Apprentice has been delayed by the BBC". Planet Radio. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "When will The Apprentice season 18 be released? Everything we know so far". Virgin Radio. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Alan Sugar: Antisemitism hurts. But it's ignorance, really". The Times. 12 May 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "The Apprentice making change to one stage after Alan Sugar admits to finding "hard to watch"". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "Karren Brady comments on "hard to watch" Apprentice scenes after Alan Sugar promises change". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "Weekly top 50 shows". BARB. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
- ^ "The Apprentice heads to Scotland for new series". The Herald. 31 January 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.