The eleventh series of British reality television series The Apprentice was broadcast in the UK on BBC One, from 14 October to 20 December 2015. Due to the 2015 General Election being held in spring, which Alan Sugar had ties to through his role in the House of Lords, the BBC postponed the series' broadcast until the middle of autumn. This series saw Claude Littner replace Nick Hewer as Lord Sugar's aide. Alongside the standard twelve episodes, with the first two airing on consecutive days, the series was preceded by the online mini-episode "Meet the Candidates" on 6 October, with two specials aired alongside the series – The Final Five on 9 December, and Why I Fired Them on 16 December.
Series overview As Alan Sugar had political ties to the 2015 United Kingdom general election due to his appointment within the House of Lords, the airing schedule for series 11 was postponed until the autumn in order to adhere to the BBC's political impartiality rules. With Nick Hewer departing the programme following its tenth series, Claude Littner took over his role as Lord Sugar's aide, alongside series regular Karren Brady. Littner also served as an interviewer in the competition's penultimate episode. In addition, Linda Plant made her first appearance as an interviewer.
Filming on the series took place from mid-spring to early summer 2015. The team names for this series were "Versatile" and "Connexus". This is the only series to date in which a fired candidate Selina Waterman-Smith refused to appear on sister show The Apprentice: You're Fired. Meanwhile, fellow candidate Scott Saunders drew media attention for quitting the show, despite progressing to the next round.
The series saw Joseph Valente win Lord Sugar's investment, using his prize to start up and expand a plumbing business called Impra-Gas. He worked for two years, together with Sugar, to develop the company's business model, before assuming full control of the company in early 2017. While both men parted on good terms, the business collapsed just months later.
Candidates Candidate Background Age Result Joseph Valente Plumbing business owner 25 Winner Vana Koutsomitis Social media entrepreneur 27 Runner-up Richard Woods Marketing agency director 31 Fired after Interviews stage Gary Poulton Programme manager 34 Charleine Wain Hair and beauty salon owner 31 Brett Butler-Smythe Builder 28 Fired after tenth task Selina Waterman-Smith Events agency owner 31 Fired after ninth task Scott Saunders Senior account manager 27 Quit after ninth task David Stevenson Sports marketing company owner 25 Fired after eighth task Sam Curry Private tutor 23 Fired after seventh task April Jackson Boutique owner 26 Fired after sixth task Mergim Butaja Sales account manager 23 Elle Stevenson Operations executive 21 Natalie Dean Corporate account manager 25 Fired after fifth task Ruth Whiteley Training consultancy owner 47 Fired after fourth task Jenny Garbis Business management student 23 Fired after third task Aisha Kasim Inventor and hair extensions specialist 30 Fired after second task Dan Callaghan Fragrance retailer director 23 Fired after first task
Performance chart Candidate Task Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Joseph LOSS IN WIN IN IN LOSS IN BR LOSE LOSS IN HIRED Vana LOSS BR LOSE IN IN IN LOSS IN IN LOSS IN RUNNER-UP Richard IN WIN IN IN IN LOSS IN IN WIN BR FIRED Gary IN IN IN LOSS LOSS IN WIN LOSE BR BR FIRED Charleine IN LOSS LOSS IN WIN LOSS IN BR LOSS LOSE FIRED Brett BR IN IN LOSS BR WIN BR IN IN FIRED Selina WIN LOSS LOSS BR LOSS IN LOSS WIN FIRED Scott IN IN IN LOSE LOSS IN LOSE IN LEFT David IN IN IN WIN IN BR IN FIRED Sam IN IN IN IN LOSE IN FIRED April LOSE LOSS LOSS IN IN FIRED Mergim IN IN IN IN IN FIRED Elle LOSS LOSS BR LOSS LOSS FIRED Natalie IN BR LOSS LOSS FIRED Ruth LOSS LOSS LOSS FIRED Jenny LOSS LOSS FIRED Aisha LOSS FIRED Dan FIRED
Key: The candidate won this series of The Apprentice. The candidate was the runner-up. The candidate won as project manager on his/her team, for this task. The candidate lost as project manager on his/her team, for this task. The candidate was on the winning team for this task / they passed the Interviews stage. The candidate was on the losing team for this task. The candidate was brought to the final boardroom for this task. The candidate was fired in this task. The candidate lost as project manager for this task and was fired. The candidate left the competition after this task.
Episodes
Controversy Selina Waterman-Smith Selina accused two other female candidates of bullying during series' filming, while also criticising the conditions candidates were kept in. She accused producers on Twitter during the series' broadcast of treating her as a "pantomime villain", and refused to take part in the sister show You're Fired after her dismissal.
Richard Woods' health As a rule for those applying to take part in The Apprentice, all medical information must be made available to production staff to assess if they can take part in the series without disruption. Following his involvement in the eleventh series, Richard Woods revealed in an interview that he had not disclosed certain information, despite having suffered three mini-strokes and delaying a procedure to preserve the sight in his left eye. It was later stated that, despite his non-disclosure, production staff ensured all candidates nevertheless had access to good healthcare, and that the show's doctor had seen no issues with Woods taking part in the series.
Ratings Official episode viewing figures are from BARB.
Episodeno. Airdate 7-day viewers(millions) 28-day viewers(millions) BBC Oneweekly ranking 1 14 October 2015 7.93 8.03 3 2 15 October 2015 7.22 7.41 7 3 21 October 2015 7.70 7.86 3 4 28 October 2015 7.25 7.39 3 5 4 November 2015 7.23 7.40 5 6 11 November 2015 7.57 7.67 4 7 18 November 2015 6.97 7.12 6 8 25 November 2015 6.65 6.92 6 9 2 December 2015 6.77 6.98 6 10 9 December 2015 6.91 7.07 5 11 16 December 2015 7.39 7.47 3 12 20 December 2015 6.52 6.61 10
References
External links Official site BBC