A Maccabi league footballer and a teenage business prodigy are among the 20 candidates vying to win The Apprentice.

As the BBC's reality show kicks off its 10th series this week, Daniel Lassman and Ella Jade Bitton will be hoping to take home the prize of £250,000 worth of investment and a chance to co-own a company with host Lord Sugar.

Mr Lassman, from Essex, left King Solomon High School at 16 with no qualifications, and worked at market stalls with his late father Michael before going on to set up a pub quiz company.

"On the market I learned how to adapt to different types of people - it gave me a better education than school," he said.

Mr Lassman, 27, is a member of the Buckhurst Hill Chabad synagogue and plays Maccabi League football for the Redbridge Jewish Care team, and has contributed the occasional match report to the JC.

He said that it was not his idea to enter The Apprentice. His girlfriend, former JFS student Sophie Stoll, completed the application form.

He said: "She was driving me mad for years, saying 'this show is perfect for you'. She filled out all the paperwork for me - I wasn't best pleased. I told her she shouldn't have bothered. I was convinced that it was a fix and producers knew the candidates years in advance."

Ms Stoll, a 24-year-old make-up artist, was shocked when he was selected. She said: "Daniel kept saying it was a waste of time, that thousands apply. But the show is perfect for him."

Mr Lassman said: "This is the biggest thing I've done so far. I love the limelight, but Sophie will keep me grounded. She'll make sure I don't get too big for my boots."

At 23, Ms Bitton is the youngest candidate on the show but already has an impressive business CV. As a teenager, she took charge of her family's bathroom supplies company, and now has her own store, Ella Jade Interiors.

"She's very entrepreneurial," said her father Paul. "When she was 16, she got us a big concession in Harrods. She went directly to Mohamed Al-Fayed. Of course, I'm very proud of her."

Ms Bitton, who attends St John's Wood Liberal Synagogue, attributes her success partly to her cultural heritage. "The Jewish community is very business orientated," she said.

"It's just part of our blood, to be honest."

She is a long-time fan of The Apprentice, and set up her own version of the show while studying business management at King's College London.

"It was called the National Student Apprentice, designed for students across the country to take part in."

She regards exposure on television as a chance to establish herself as a serious professional.

"For me, it's not about 15 minutes of fame. I'm here to build myself up as a respected businesswoman," she said.