With ridiculous tasks, cringe-worthy catchphrases and questionable business decisions, The Apprentice has been unmissable TV for 12 years now. The BBC One show originally offered candidates the chance to win a job with Sir Alan Sugar before changing in 2011 to offer the winner £250,000 and go into partnership with the business mogul.
Each year, a team of men and women prove their business acumen and try to avoid hearing “You’re Fired” in the boardroom by competing on a series of tasks to test their salesmanship, negotiation, requisitioning, leadership, teamwork, and organisation.
But we really wanted to know is what it’s really like to be on the show – so we got 2013 winner Leah Totton, 2016 semi-finalist Jessica Cunningham and 2015 winner Joseph Valente to dish the dirt…
Jessica Cunningham reveals, “You don’t really get any downtime in the house to chill out. You get one day off a week, otherwise you are usually out doing the task or going to the boardroom. There was a couple of times we had an evening where we all chilled out together but genuinely it’s quite full on.”
Leah Totton, who runs the Dr Leah Cosmetic Skin Clinic, says, “The house was amazing but you were allocated a room. I think it was done at random, there was no real science to it.”
“Sometimes when you were working on a long task you weren’t allowed to see the other team so you couldn’t discuss it. They made us swap bedrooms for one of the tasks so we couldn’t talk to the opposite team to find out how well they’d done. They want everything to be revealed on screen,” adds Jessica.
2. The process is VERY intense“It takes ages,” says Leah. “Months and months. I don’t think I had any days off; maybe two. By the end of it I was absolutely exhausted. It is really intense. I think that’s why people make mistakes because you are doing these tasks weeks on end with little sleep.”
3. They really do only get the 30-minute phone call to get readyLeah confirms, “The phone call is legit. A lot of girls in my year would get ready before going to bed. I would blow dry my hair the night before and put it in rollers. I would never answer the phone because I would have my rollers in. It was get up and shower quickly, put on some make-up and away you go.”
Jessica, who now writes parenting blog Mother of Maniacs adds: “That’s really the way it is. You have literally half an hour to get ready. You don’t have any longer. Within that half an hour you have to be downstairs getting your mic on. What we used to do was try and wake up earlier, get your make-up on, then get back into bed and wait for the phone. Although sometimes I would just have another 10 minutes and do my make-up in the car.”
4. They have to buy all their own clothes – and wash them, too“There is no budget for wardrobe,” explains Leah. “No-one styles you and you have to do your own hair and make-up. They tell you to wear business attire and they want to know what you are going to wear in the boardroom in case there was glare off the cameras. But most TV shows are like that.”
“We had a dry cleaner that we could use but there was a washing machine and we were capable of washing our own clothes,” adds Jessica. “I was lucky I had my clothing brand Prodigal Fox, so I just was able to wear that. I think lots of people bought new stuff. You are going on TV so you want to look smart and make an effort. We all lent each other clothes and fake tan.”
5. Although the house had a gym, there was no time to exerciseJessica explains, “I think I did it about five times because, to be honest, you are so busy, and when you aren’t busy you are just tired.”
Leah agrees: “I train quite a bit normally and I think I went into the gym four times in total. There was just no time for it and no routine. It was hard to fit it in.”
6. The edit is fair…Joseph, who has written a book on his experience, Expelled From The Classroom To Billionaire Boardroom admits, “I was pleased with it. When I looked stupid, I laughed it off but if I’m honest that didn’t happen very often because I smashed it.”
“They aren’t out to get you,” adds Jessica. “Knowing the characters that I lived with and worked with, then watching it on TV, I think everyone was a portrayed in the way that they were. I was completely happy with my edit and I think if you aren’t happy with your edit you need to look at who you are. The camera doesn’t make you say things or make you do things. It doesn’t change your body language. I think everything is the way it happens. They show the stuff that makes you look like idiots. People get annoyed they don’t show what you’ve done right but that isn’t the nature of the show.”
7. …But there are things they don’t showJoseph says, “They never showed on TV all the catfights in the house between the girls – they were crazy at times. It was funny to watch… from afar, but I stayed out of it.”
8. They only have limited access to alcohol
“There is alcohol but not loads,” says Jessica. “You might have had the odd glass of wine in the evening and that was it. The gin task for us was good ’cause we managed to get a few drinks of gin.”
9. Producers are very against candidates getting into relationships – but they do it anywayJessica dated runner-up Courtney Wood throughout the show: “It’s like cabin fever. Bloody hell, I started seeing Courtney and he’s not my type at all. But you go stir crazy. The producers are really, strictly against it. They don’t want relationships. They want you to concentrate on the business. There are five people called the ‘house team’ that live with you for health and safety and to keep an eye on you.”
10. They never know when there’s going to be a task…Jessica explains,: “They never told you when you would have a task or what was happening. You knew you had one day off a week but the nature of the show is to kind of build on that anticipation and get your nerves going. You never knew what tasks you were going to end up with or how long you were going to be working on the task. It is designed to get your pulse racing. It’s a really, really clever concept for a show. It is designed to make you mess up.”
Jessica says, “You are under pressure and you’ve got the producers asking you questions, which get you thinking you have lost the task. You ask the producers how the other team are doing but they ain’t gonna tell you. They are on the phone giggling and laughing but they never say. They will know what your sub team are doing and they insinuate that the sub team are messing around. They would ask you questions but then you respond in frustration ’cause you are worried that they are losing the task for the team.”
12. The tasks really are harder than they look, but they don’t do second takesJoseph reveals: “They don’t show on TV the amount of circumstances you are actually up against. It’s not the real world; no phones, no internet. You can’t just walk into a shop and sell your item. It all needs approving for filming and you can sit outside for an hour, it’s crazy.”
“Sometimes in the pitch they ask you to say something again, because the main thing when being filmed on camera is that they can hear you and you are getting your words across clearly,” explains Jessica. “They need to have it so viewers can understand. It’s all real. When you are on task they don’t get you to do second takes. You also get members of the public coming over a taking pictures and tagging you on social media but that was brilliant, because my family would search on Twitter for the hashtags to see what we were doing and what we were filming.”
13. Everyone really loves Claude Littner“I love Claude,” says Jessica. “He’s fabulous and I still speak to him now. He really wants the candidates to do well. He’s a really nice gentleman. I think Karen is very much what you see onscreen, although I don’t think she is actually as bad as they make her out to be. I think she plays up to the role.”
14. They don’t even notice they are being filmedLeah explains, “Honestly, you forget about the cameras. They don’t get you to re-film. You don’t even notice they are there. You are so focused on winning the task. They would get you to reshoot walking scenes or getting in and out of the car. What you see on TV is exactly how the task is unless it was a sound issue. There’s no script. They don’t tell you what to do, you just get on with it. Then they condense it into the hour-long episode.”
“You do get breaks,” says Jessica. They are very concerned about workplace regulations, so they make sure you get a proper lunch break and both teams have to get the same time so it is fair. We used to go to Wagamamas or Nando’s.”
Leah adds, “You used to get lunch on the go but in the evenings some of the candidates cooked. I remember Kurt [Wilson] cooked and Luisa [Zissman] had her cake business and she’s good in the kitchen and she cooked a bit. But you are so tired when you get home that you can barely stay awake to eat.”
Leah reveals, “I found the whole thing so hard. Maybe because I hadn’t worked in business before. I found you had to be ‘on it’ all the time. You were using so many skill sets: communication skills, not allowed calculators so I was doing all the maths. I like numbers but that with no sleep – you don’t want to make mistakes doing prices at 6am. It really stretches your capability. The tasks were so varied as well. It was just a broad competition.”
Joseph adds: “I didn’t expect it to be so intense. It was crazy and watching it on TV doesn’t really do it justice in relation to how hard it actually is. 18-hour days, some near-on impossible ways to win, highly competitive environment with backstabbing and Chinese whispers happening frequently. It was tough.”
17. The Bridge Café really is as horrific as it looks“The Bridge Café is horrible,” Jessica remembers. “It’s a real place but it’s absolutely horrible. The first time I went to the toilet, it was outside. It was horrific. The second time I went they had done it up a little bit but it’s not great.”
18. The boardroom is in a custom-made set but it’s terrifying and takes ages“It looks like five minutes on TV but you are in the boardroom for a couple of hours,” explains Jessica. “Before you go into the boardroom they give you some dinner but you are in this room where you aren’t allowed to talk. It really gets your heart going. There’s a very serious energy and serious tone and as soon as you are in there you are in for two, maybe two-and-a-half hours. You can feel the butterflies in your stomach; your palms are sweating.”
“The boardroom goes on for much longer than you see,” adds Leah. “It really varies: sometimes they ran straight through and it was quick but sometimes it went on for ages and takes half a day. The edit is really realistic. It’s really weird because you know it went on for longer but they don’t really miss anything out. It really captures everything.”
19. Everyone gets really excited for the treatsLeah says, “The treats were great. You do those the next day and they are really fun. They don’t really film you much, just to show that you are there and what you are doing – that was good. It is probably a much easier experience if you are winning every task because you are getting the treats and not doing the boardroom and that can take half a day or the evening.”
20. If you are fired, you don’t get to say bye to anyoneJessica reveals, “You pack stuff for overnight in the suitcase thatyou take to the boardroom and you go to the hotel when you are fired. Then, the next day when everyone is out of the house, you go back and pack up all your stuff. You only say goodbye to the people you are in the boardroom with and that’s it.”
“People would sit and wait for people to come back from the boardroom to see who went home,” Leah adds. “I was in the boardroom quite a lot so I didn’t really get to wait in the house. I just kept losing.
21. They film everyone leaving the building after they’ve been fired at the beginningJessica explained: “They film everyone walking out of the building and getting into the taxi at the start for continuity. But then when you are actually fired, they film you in a different taxi talking. It is really authentic.”
“Those catchphrases are all real,” Jessica says. “No one tells you to say them. Karthik’s [Nagesan] are definitely all real. I think by my series a lot of people who had watched The Apprentice before knew that’s what people come out with and to be funny.”
23. They are genuinely happy to see all the old contestants for the final taskLeah says, “They are your friends. It’s weird when people go, ’cause you don’t want them to go even though it’s getting you closer to winning. I don’t remember being happy when anyone left and I was really glad to see them all at the end. It’s really nice when they all come back. I got everyone who was in my team a present to say thank you for helping because they did really get behind me and help me with winning.”
Joseph says, “It’s absolutely savage, it feels like your life is on hold for so long because it’s such a big deal and winning would have life-changing consequences. You just want to find out.”
Jessica adds, “The finalists both have filmed winning. Poor Courtney [Wood] was convinced he had won in our year. It was really nice going back to do the task, although I felt disappointed that I wasn’t a finalist – though Alana [Spencer] was fab.”
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