Lord Sugar’s right hand man Claude Littner has revealed that a row between them saved his life.

When the two men had a fiery disagreement back in 1997, Mr Littner stormed out of the office and switched off his phone.

Speaking to a packed gathering of the City of London School’s Jewish society, Mr Littner, who has worked with Lord Sugar for many years and is an Apprentice regular, recalled he had a suspected hernia at the time. 

“As I had the afternoon off, I thought it might be a good idea to pop into the GP,” he told the 320 assembled pupils and teachers.

Concerned, the doctor ordered further tests which revealed he had non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and just six months to live. 

Interviewed by Joel Rosen, one of the heads of the Jewish society, he said he recovered “against the odds”, thanks to a stem cell donation from his sister Gina Oliver. 

Clear of cancer since 2000, he said: “I have had a second chance at life and not many people get that so I think that it gave me an opportunity to re-evaluate my life.”