THE Apprentice is back for a brand new series, which means more drama and gaffs in the famous boardroom.
Each week the 2024 candidates must face the mighty Lord Alan Sugar, and his loyal aides.
It wouldn't be The Apprentice without Lord Alan Sugar, who returns for his eighteenth season as head judge.
He has appeared on the show since it started in 2005.
I can assure you I've got plenty of other things to do in my life, but I do enjoy doing The Apprentice.
Lord Alan Sugar
The Lord is a British business magnate, media personality, author, politician and political adviser.
The business mogul has earned his money through a string of business ventures, most notably founding Amstrad, a computer and electronics company, in 1968.
At the height of its success, this company alone was worth an estimated £1.2billion, however, it was sold in 2007 to BSkyB for £125million.
Alan was also a former Chairman of Tottenham Hotspur FC, and now has an estimated worth of over £1 billion.
He is notoriously known for being outspoken and saying what’s on his mind.
Revealing why he returns to The Apprentice every year, Lord Alan told the BBC: "Well, I love it. I love doing it.
"If I didn't like doing it, I wouldn't do it.
"I can assure you I've got plenty of other things to do in my life, but I do enjoy it.
"And what I enjoy about it is that it's growing acorns to oak trees.
"It's finding a person and starting all over again and doing exactly what I did back in the '60s."
Joining Lord Sugar in the boardroom is Baroness Karren Brady, the Vice-Chairman of West Ham United FC.
She has been one of Lord Sugar's aides since 2009, after she replaced Margaret Mountford.
I think it's probably the most highly qualified set of candidates we've ever had.
Karren Brady on season 18
At just 23 years old, Karren became the managing director of Birmingham City F.C in 1993.
This came about while she was working at Sport Newspapers for David Sullivan, where she became a director at the age of 20.
Whilst in this job, Karren spotted an advert in the Financial Times for the sale of Birmingham City football club.
She persuaded Sullivan to buy the club and to let her run it, becoming managing director in her early 20s.
Karren remained at the club until 2009, before becoming Vice-Chairman at West Ham United the following year.
Away from her business ventures, she is a vital aide to Lord Sugar on The Apprentice and helps him to decide who is worthy of his investment.
Speaking about the latest batch of candidates, she told the BBC: "I think it's probably the most highly qualified set of candidates we've ever had.
"A pharmacist dentist, some already successful business owners.
"I think from that point of view, the standard is really very high, but with high standard and high achievers comes high ego!"
Businessman Tim Campbell is back on the judging panel for the 2024 season.
He joined the show in series 16, when he was brought in to fill in for fan favourite Claude Littner, who was unable to participate in the series due to medical reason.
I'm really fortunate that I'm really part of the fabric of The Apprentice.
Tim Campbell
Tim has remained one of Lord Sugar's aides ever since.
He has a very strong connection to the show as Tim was the winner of the first-ever series of the UK version of The Apprentice, and secured a £100,000-a-year job working for Lord Sugar.
He is also the first-ever Apprentice star to become a judge on the show, and was taken on by Alan's company Amstrad after winning in 2005.
Tim continued to work at the computer giant but in March 2007, after two years at the company, he left to set up a perfume business but this was later abandoned.
That same year, he became a Social Enterprise Ambassador as part of a British Government initiative that aims to apply modern business solutions to social and environmental problems.
Tim is now a co-founder of a digital marketing agency in London in 2016 and is also the chairman of the governing body of the secondary school he attended as a child.
Speaking about why he loves The Apprentice, he told the BBC: "You know what? I'm really fortunate that I'm really part of the fabric of the show.
"The reality is that I understand from an integrity perspective how robust the process is, how much Lord Sugar gives of himself to the actual process and also the transformational impact of the end of the process on individual lives, not just the winner."
The eighteenth series The Apprentice kicks on February 1, 2024 on BBC One and the iPlayer.
Fans will be treated to 12 brand new episodes.
The show is set to run every Thursday at 9pm, until April 18, 2024.
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