Lord Alan Sugar argues The Apprentice should be scrapped if he leaves

The business mogul has revealed that he plans on being with the show for years to come.

By Lauren Morris

Published: Tuesday, 21 March 2023 at 12:00 am

Lord Alan Sugar has been firing people on our screens for nearly 20 years thanks to The Apprentice, however the business mogul reckons that the competition wouldn’t survive if he were to quit.

Speaking to The Sun, the TV personality revealed that he plans on being on The Apprentice when it reaches its 25th birthday.

“I don’t want to sound too big headed but a lot of people underestimate me. They hear me talking like a cockney, but I know everything, I really do,” he said.

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Lord Alan Sugar on The Apprentice.
BBC / Boundless / Ray Burmiston

“I’m not degrading people like [Drag­­ons’ Den star] Peter Jones, because they’ve done a lot also. But none of them have done as much as I have. Who would I put in my place? I can’t think of anybody. There’s loads of people that would queue up.”

He added: “There’s no reason why I can’t go on to do 25 years. I’m very fit, so I don’t know whether it stops at 20. But if I ever did stop, I get a feeling the BBC wouldn’t stop it.

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“I think they would try to find someone new to do it and that’s where it might kill itself off.”

The 75-year-old, who broke out into the business world after starting consumer electronics company Amstrad, said earlier this year that he has “no plans” to quit The Apprentice.

“First of all, I publicly stated that I really wanted to make it to 20 years. So this one is 16 and I’ve got four more to do to achieve that goal,” he said.

The 2023 season of The Apprentice airs its big final on Thursday night, with Rochelle Anthony and Marnie Swindells going head-to-head in one last challenge as they compete for Lord Sugar’s investment.