The Apprentice’s Paul Bowen revealed on Tuesday that he has been keeping a huge secret from the show’s other candidates through a very candid Instagram post.
He shared a series of pictures exposing his naturally bald head as he explained that his realistic hairpiece is a huge confidence boost for him.
Paul, 34, is a director at his family business, Bowen Pies and is one of the 18 hopefuls competing in the 18th BBC series, which started on February 1, 2024.
After the Lancashire-born contestant survived a brutal start to the show on the error-ridden opening, he took to social media to share something very personal.
The star is actually mostly bald, with just a strip of mousey blond around the rim of his head.
The Apprentice’s Paul Bowen revealed on Tuesday that he has been keeping a huge secret from the show’s other candidates through a very candid Instagram post
Leaving his fans in a frenzy, Paul’ the pie maker’ shared a before and after shot of him with his thick fake locks and a snap of him rocking his natural bald look.
He captioned the post: ‘Swipe for hair…. Never ashamed to say I wear hair. Just like girls put a bit of lippy on , I put hair on.
‘I personally feel it makes me look better and it’s a confidence booster for me…Want the look see @yourhair_solutions #hair #hairsystem #bald #baldnesscure #confidence’.
The candid post left the show’s fans in chaos as they flooded the comment section and couldn’t believe the star’s transformation.
One quipped: ‘So you’re telling me this is a wig?”
“GIVE OVERRR!! How long have you had that for???”
“I forgot you even had a wig mate, it’s that good! If/when I go bald I’m joining you, wig for the win.”
It comes after The Apprentice suffered a drop in ratings of more than 1.2million viewers compared to last year, as the new series kicked off on Thursday.
Paul, 34, is a director at his family business, Bowen Pies and is one of the 18 hopefuls competing in the 18th BBC series, which started on February 1, 2024
After the Lancashire-born contestant survived a brutal start to the show on the error-ridden opening, he took to social media to share something very personal. The star is actually mostly bald, with just a strip of mousey blond around the rim of his head
Leaving his fans in a frenzy, Paul’ the pie maker’ shared a before and after shot of him with his thick fake locks and a snap of him rocking his natural bald look
The BBC show returned to screens with a new team of hopefuls bidding to earn Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment, with Oliver Medforth becoming the first candidate to get the sack.
According to overnight figures, the launch saw an average of just 3.6 million viewers tune in, down 1.2 million compared to the same time last year.
While the show will likely see a boost in ratings through viewers catching up on BBC iPlayer, it still remains one of the lowest ratings in the show’s history.
Thursday’s launch was also branded ‘stale’ and ‘past its sell-by date’ by bored viewers.
Viewers urged BBC bosses to change up the tired format as episode one saw the men and women divided into two teams and head to the Scottish Highlands to host an away day.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, those watching said: ‘I think the problem with this programme is that the format is exactly the same as it was 10 years ago…bit stale. Need to change it up.’
‘I really need to stop watching the Apprentice every year it begins. It is bad. it is really really bad. Tonight’s opener serves to show everything wrong with the program and how if you did that in the real world, all the team is getting sacked!’
‘Utter joke. Not watched this for years. Sacking decision made just for TV effect. What mugs the BBC take us for. Pathetic programme well past its sell by date.’
While some viewers said they were ‘hooked from start to finish’, others complained the show felt tired, with candidates’ carbon copies’ of stars from previous years as they complained about the dated colour block wardrobes.
‘I swear The Apprentice candidates are carbon copies of each other… the one girl looks like Harpreet, the other like Victoria with glasses, another one like Marianne from 2019 and Ollie a cross between Ryan-Mark and Annoying Orange’.
Another wrote: ‘Why on The Apprentice are the girls all wearing a totally different colour from each other? I feel like this happens most series?’
Sales executive Oliver Medforth was the first candidate to be fired from the new series.
Lord Sugar sacked the Yorkshire businessman after the men’s team suffered a disastrous £506.40 loss.
It was Oliver who ultimately faced the chop after aid Tim Campbell, 46, revealed clients had requested a 52% refund, bringing the total loss to £506.40.
It comes after The Apprentice suffered a drop in ratings of more than 1.2million viewers compared to last year, as the new series kicked off on Thursday
