Apprentice boss Lord Sugar wants King Charles to be his star signing for the BBC show’s landmark 20th series, MailOnline can reveal.
The business mogul, 74, is keen to mark two decades of The Apprentice with a special event – and says he will settle for nothing less than royalty.
He has always vowed to continue fronting the show until he completes 20 years in the hot seat, scoping out entrepreneurs desperate to secure his £250,000 investment.
And now he hopes to recruit King Charles, who’s already made TV appearances on BBC shows EastEnders and The Repair Shop, for the special series planned for 2026.
Lord Sugar is also mulling over the possibility of an All Stars season – but said former Loose Woman Saira Khan, 53, who was a finalist on the first ever series of The Apprentice, would be ‘too old’ to take part.
Apprentice boss Lord Sugar wants King Charles to be his star signing for the BBC show’s landmark 20th series, MailOnline can reveal
The business mogul is keen to mark two decades of The Apprentice with a special event – and says he will settle for nothing less than royalty
Lord Sugar is also mulling over the possibility of an All Stars season – but said former Loose Woman Saira Khan, who was a finalist on the first ever series of The Apprentice, would be ‘too old’ to take part
He said: ‘What we would like to do and what I would like to do and of course the decision lies with the BBC…
‘We have another series coming up, series 19 and then we need to do something very, very special for the 20th year of The Apprentice… I might invite the King to come along.’
On Thursday night, The Apprentice returns for the 18th series and this time Lord Sugar admits the candidates have impressed him.
Indeed, those competing to become his business partner even bank the largest amount secured in the show’s history, with his trusted aid Baroness Karren Brady, 54, revealing the fee were in the millions.
But former contestants haven’t always given Lord Sugar a reason to celebrate – and he’s unsure stars of the past, including Saira, who lost out to his first winner Tim Campbell, 46, in 2005, would be up for the challenge.
He said: ‘Are you suggesting that the All Stars are the 18 winners or that the candidates are not necessarily the winners… and if it was… would they win again because hopefully their businesses are doing quite well.
‘The problem is if you go back 18 years… Saira Khan who lost to Tim… dare I say and she will bite my head off for this, she might be a bit too old now.’
The star of the Apprentice prides himself on his acumen, but even more so his witty one-liners and off the cuff jokes, which he insists aren’t scripted by writers.
On Thursday night, The Apprentice returns for the 18th series and this time Lord Sugar admits the candidates have impressed him
Indeed, those competing to become his business partner even bank the largest amount secured in the show’s history, with Karren Brady revealing the fee were in the millions
He claims his wife Ann, who he’s been married to for 55 years, doesn’t have any say in his quips either but she does recognise that his sense of humour has been inherited from his mother.
Lord Sugar said: ‘My wife looking over my jokes… first of all my jokes are spur of the moment, if I knew what they were and what the scenarios are I could perhaps explain it but they do roll off my tongue and they just come out as we’re going along… this is not a scripted show.
‘But she watches the programme saying, you’re just like your mother and uncle John, a joker.’
The Apprentice airs after rival business show Dragon’s Den with the BBC creating a dream evening for budding entrepreneurs.
But Lord Sugar remains firm that his series recruits ‘big time people’ and the 12-week process doesn’t compare to the five-minute pitch contestants get in front of the dragons.
He said: ‘This is a more rounded proposal… this is learning to become a big business person and no disrespect to Dragon’s Den but the people that apply for it are looking for small amounts of money to start their cottage industry up…
‘I am looking for big time people who want to make a big business.
‘Both programmes are very good but on Dragon’s Den the people walking in get a one chance opportunity to talk to five people and they either succeed or they don’t but on The Apprentice they have 12 weeks to do the talking and there’s a complete difference there.’
