The Apprentice (British series 18)

Season of television series

The Apprentice

Series 18
Starring|

* Alan Sugar
* Karren Brady
* Tim Campbell

Country of origin| United Kingdom
No. of episodes| 12
Release
Original network| BBC One
Original release| 1 February 2024 (2024-02-01)
Series chronology

← Previous
Series 17

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[edit]

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 was not trying to upset the candidates, [during the interviews] however added that "resilience" was critical for running a successful business.[14]

## Series overview[edit]

The two teams are named Supream and Nexus.[15]

### Candidates[edit]

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  |
Paul Midha | Dental practice owner  | 29  |
Phil Turner | Pie company owner  | 37  |
Rachel Woolford | Boutique fitness studio owner  | 27  |
Raj Chohan | Mortgage broker  | 41  |
Steve Darken | Management consultant  | 37  |
Tre Lowe | Musician & wellness entrepreneur  | 48  |
Virdi Singh Mazaria | Music producer  | 24  | Fired in the seventh task
Samantha "Sam" Saadet | Perinatal fitness coach  | 33  | Fired in the sixth task
Onyeka Nweze | Chartered company secretary  | 25  | Fired in the fifth task
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[edit]

Candidate  | Task Number

|

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Flo  | IN  | IN  | WIN | IN  | LOSS  | LOSS  | IN  |  |  |  |  |
Foluso  | IN  | WIN | IN  | IN  | IN  | IN  | BR |  |  |  |  |
Maura  | IN  | IN  | LOSS  | BR | LOSS  | BR | WIN |  |  |  |  |
Noor  | IN  | IN  | IN  | IN  | IN  | IN  | LOSS  |  |  |  |  |
Paul M.  | LOSS  | LOSS  | IN  | IN  | LOSE | LOSS  | IN  |  |  |  |  |
Phil  | LOSS  | LOSE | LOSS  | BR | LOSS  | BR | LOSS  |  |  |  |  |
Rachel  | IN  | IN  | IN  | IN  | IN  | IN  | LOSE |  |  |  |  |
Raj  | IN  | IN  | IN  | WIN | IN  | IN  | IN  |  |  |  |  |
Steve  | BR | LOSS  | IN  | IN  | IN  | WIN | IN  |  |  |  |  |
Tre  | LOSS  | LOSS  | IN  | IN  | WIN | IN  | LOSS  |  |  |  |  |
Virdi  | LOSE | LOSS  | LOSS  | BR | BR | LOSS  | FIRED |
Sam  | IN  | IN  | BR | BR | LOSS  | PM |
Onyeka  | WIN | IN  | BR | BR | FIRED |
Jack  | LOSS  | LOSS  | LOSS  | PM |
Amina  | IN  | IN  | BR | FIRED |
Asif  | LOSS  | BR | PM |
Paul B.  | LOSS  | FIRED |
Ollie  | FIRED |

HIRED The candidate won this series of The Apprentice.
RUNNER-UP The candidate was the runner-up.
WIN The candidate won as project manager on their team, for this task.
LOSE The candidate lost as project manager on their team, for this task.
IN The candidate was on the winning team for this task / passed the Interviews stage.
LOSS The candidate was on the losing team for this task.
BR The candidate was brought to the final boardroom for this task.
FIRED The candidate was fired in this task.
PM The candidate lost as project manager for this task and was fired.

## Episodes[edit]

No.
overall| No. in
series| Title| Original air date| UK viewers
(millions) [16]

|
|
|
|

209| 1| "Highlands Corporate Away Day"| 1 February 2024 (2024-02-01)| 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 toads 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.[17]
210| 2| "Cheesecakes"| 8 February 2024 (2024-02-08)| 6.32
The teams are sent to the Royal Exchange in the City of London. 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 public, and dragon fruit and avocado cheesecakes for their corporate clients; they face issues with costings, negotiations with their difficult clients, and selling prices. The women create mango cheesecakes for the public, and fig-flavoured cheesecakes for their clients; 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 (2024-02-15)| 6.05
The teams are sent to Outernet London in the West End of London. Escape rooms are the theme of a new virtual experience that the teams must create - they have to come up with a concept develop a demo 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 its 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. Following the firing, Lord Sugar visits the candidates' house to inform them of the next task.
212| 4| "Jersey Discount Buying"| 22 February 2024 (2024-02-22)| 6.43
Lord Sugar sends the teams to Jersey to purchase a list of 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 they waste time waiting around for certain items. Supream manages to secure seven items, but from the beginning of the task, they faced severe issues including a clear lack of strategy, along with poor negotiations from all team members. The sub-team in particular suffers a lack of focus, in addition to one item they buy being wrong and receiving a fine for being late. In the boardroom, Supream’s spending is revealed to be far greater than Nexus's, 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. Among 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 (2024-02-29)| 6.03
Lord Sugar meets the teams in Battersea Power Station, where he instructs them to come up with a concept for a new Formula E team, and then sell sponsorship at a launch event, which included a potential separate deal with one major corporate client. Nexus's concept revolves around plastic pollution and the oceans; despite poor branding from the sub-team, the concept is well-received at their launch event, which leads to some strong deals from sponsors. Supream focuses its concept around clean air, but despite one good deal, it suffers from a relatively poor branding effort, compounded with overall poor sponsorship sales at its launch event due to the concept not being properly communicated during the presentation. In the boardroom, Nexus wins after delivering record-breaking sales figures, leaving Supream to face questions about their campaign. Of the final three, Onyeka Nweze is fired for delivering a poor presentation at the launch event, and her overall track record in tasks.
214| 6| "Cereal"| 7 March 2024 (2024-03-07)| TBD
Both teams are summoned to the Savoy Hotel, where they are tasked with designing a cereal for six to eight-year-olds, including the box, cereal, mascot, and a VR feature, which they will then sell to retailers at a launch event. Nexus's idea revolves around a superhero called 'Mega Bella'; despite some issues with the flavour of their cereal, along with concerns that their VR element is deemed too simple, they secured a very large deal at their launch event, along with predominantly positive comments from the present buyers. Supream focuses on the Arctic but suffers several issues including a bland cereal, a poorly designed box, and a VR game that faces heavy criticism from retailers at the launch event. In the boardroom, Nexus - despite gambling on an exclusive deal - secured the most sales from their cereal, leaving Supream to face the boardroom over their flawed product. Of the final three, Sam Saadet is ejected from the process for her poor leadership and overseeing an overall extremely lacklustre campaign.
215| 7| "Budapest Tourism"| 14 March 2024 (2024-03-14)| TBD
The teams are sent to Budapest, the capital of Hungary and challenged to plan a tour of the city.[18] Maura is tasked by Lord Sugar to be project manager and chooses to wine tour, leading to Noor swapping teams due to selling alcohol being against her Muslim faith. Their opponents do a boat tour on the Danube including visiting Margaret Island. In the boardroom, Nexus's profits from the tour are revealed to be higher than Supream's, leaving the latter to face scrutiny over their sales strategy. Of the final three, Virdi Singh Mazaria is fired after being most culpable to the poor sales of the tour, in addition of his awful track record of seven consecutive losses.
216| 8| "XBUS Advertising"| 21 March 2024 (2024-03-21)| TBD
217| 9| "TV Selling"| 28 March 2024 (2024-03-28)| TBD

## References[edit]

1. ^ "The Apprentice reveals first details about series 18". Virgin Radio. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
2. ^ Fawehinmi, Yolanthe (27 November 2023). "The Apprentice is back with Lord Sugar for its 18th series". Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
3. ^ Collier, Katie (28 November 2023). "BBC's The Apprentice to return in 2024 with its 18th series". Stourbridge News. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
4. ^ "The Apprentice 2024 candidates - Meet the hopefuls vying for Lord Sugar's investment in series 18". BBC Media Centre. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
5. ^ Collier, Katie (21 December 2022). "BBC The Apprentice: How to apply for 2024 series". Wandsworth Times. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
6. ^ Meechan, Simon (6 January 2023). "How to apply to be on The Apprentice for next series to be shown in 2024". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
7. ^ Ross, Alex (19 February 2024). "Applications for The Apprentice are now closed". Planet Radio. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
8. ^ Sarrubba, Stefania (28 November 2023). "The Apprentice teases season 18 with first look photo". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
9. ^ Ross, Alex (23 February 2024). "The new series of The Apprentice has been delayed by the BBC". Planet Radio. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
10. ^ "When will The Apprentice season 18 be released? Everything we know so far". Virgin Radio. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
11. ^ The Apprentice [@bbcapprentice] (17 January 2024). "Guess who's back... Watch brand-new #TheApprentice on #iPlayer and #BBCOne from 1 Feb at 9pm" (Tweet). Retrieved 25 February 2024 - via Twitter.
12. ^ Billen, Andrew (12 May 2023). "Alan Sugar: Antisemitism hurts. But it's ignorance, really". The Times. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
13. ^ Bacon, Jess (16 May 2023). "The Apprentice making change to one stage after Alan Sugar admits to finding "hard to watch"". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
14. ^ Cooper, Brenna (26 May 2023). "Karren Brady comments on "hard to watch" Apprentice scenes after Alan Sugar promises change". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
15. ^ "Who left The Apprentice? Full line-up of 2024 candidates". Yahoo News. 8 March 2024. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
16. ^ "Weekly top 50 shows". BARB. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
17. ^ Rowat, Alison (31 January 2024). "The Apprentice heads to Scotland for new series". The Herald. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
18. ^ https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23952360.bbcs-apprentice-return-2024-18th-series/

## External links[edit]

* The Apprentice at BBC Online

* v
* t
* e

The Apprentice

Series|

* 1
* 2
* 3
* 4
* 5
* 6
* 7
* 8
* 9
* 10
* 11
* 12
* 13
* 14
* 15
* 16
* 17
* 18

Winners|

* Tim Campbell
* Michelle Dewberry
* Simon Ambrose
* Lee McQueen
* Yasmina Siadatan
* Leah Totton
* Alana Spencer
* Sian Gabbidon
* Carina Lepore

Runners-up|

* Saira Khan
* Ruth Badger
* Kate Walsh
* Luisa Zissman

Other notable contestants|

* James Max
* Syed Ahmed
* Katie Hopkins
* Raef Bjayou
* Jennifer Maguire
* Susan Ma
* Jim Eastwood
* Stuart Baggs
* Melody Hossaini
* James Hill
* Jessica Cunningham
* Thomas Skinner
* Ryan-Mark Parsons
* Amy Anzel
* Conor Gilsenan

Related programmes|

* The Apprentice: You're Fired!
* Comic Relief Does The Apprentice
* Young Apprentice
* Beat the Boss
* The Apprentice (franchise)

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