Lord Sugar is back for the tenth series of The Apprentice – and two Jewish contestants are hoping to win the BBC’s business-themed reality TV show.
Former JC reporter Daniel Lassman, 27, and Ella Jade Bitton, 23, are among 20 candidates hoping to take home the prize of £250,000 worth of investment.
In the opening episode, which airs next Tuesday, they go head-to-head as candidates are split into teams of men and women.
Mr Lassman, a former student at King Solomon High School in Essex, who plays Maccabi football for Redbridge Jewish Care, said his tactics for winning the show were simple.
A director at the Pub Quiz Company, he said: “I will outsell them, outclass them, and be the best by being me.
“I’m now an entrepreneur. I started on the street markets. I was working for my dad, we were selling fabrics and curtains. I learnt more in the markets than I did at school by a mile.
“I’ve got a good look – I walk into the room with a bit of presence. I have to be the most competitive man you’ve ever met in your life.”
Ms Bitton, from Hertfordshire, was equally confident. A business management graduate, she said: “I’m me, I don’t need a game plan.
“I’m honest, I’m an open book. I’m creative. For my age I’ve got a lot of experience.”
Launching the programme on Tuesday, Lord Sugar told the JC he was unimpressed by a female contestant who had tried to impress by wearing short skirts and lots of make-up.
He said: “I think the other girls said that was ridiculous, took no notice of it whatsoever. The other girls said ‘no, we’re here to do a job, to do some business’.”
Baroness Brady added: “I think it’s a very old-fashioned attitude that you’ve got to wear short skirts and a lot of make up to get on in life.”
The series has 20 rather than 16 candidates.
Lord Sugar said he had decided to add the extra four “at the 11th hour”.
“The reason we did it, we wanted to give a few more people a chance. There are so many good candidates,” he said. The move also gave him the flexibility to fire more than one person a week, he added.
His advisors on the show, Baroness Brady and Nick Hewer, pointed out that it was a lot of work shadowing all 20 candidates.
“I don’t think we’ll be doing that again for the next series,” added Lord Sugar.
