The Apprentice candidates looking to impress Lord Alan Sugar this year have been banned from having sex with one another, it's been reported.
BBC bosses are said to have made the new crop of business hopefuls sign a contract vowing not to strike up a romance with their rivals throughout their time in the competition.
It reportedly prohibits "any intimate physical contact and/or sexual activity" with their co-stars or any crew members involved with the long-running BBC One show.
The Apprentice bosses are hoping the contract clause will see an end to candidates hooking up with each other in the bedroom as they aim to win Lord Sugar over in the boardroom.
While the BBC show is far more likely to give your career a boost - rather than aid your personal life - every now and again, two hopeful business moguls find love in the boardroom and strike up a romance away from the cameras.
Although The Apprentice isn't going to give the likes of Love Island a run for its money when it comes to playing matchmaker, Britain's toughest job interview has actually produced quite a few romantic relationships over the years, and even a baby!
"Any antics could affect the candidates’ performance in the boardroom," a source told The Sun about this year's rumoured 'sex ban'. "The focus of the show is getting Lord Sugar to be your business partner, not finding your life partner."
The Mirror has approached the BBC for comment on this story.
Way back in the early days of The Apprentice, Kate Walsh and Philip Taylor became one of the original golden couples from the BBC show in 2009. Phillip a fan on Twitter he and Kate were still very much together in 2018.
After striking up a romance on the BBC show in 2017, Harrison Jones and Michaela Wain welcomed the first ever 'Apprentice baby' into the world the following year.
Elsewhere during the 2017 series of The Apprentice, Jade English and James White hit the headlines thanks to their rumoured romance on the show.
Scandal ensured when James - who went on to win the lucrative investment from Lord Sugar - hooked up with Jade despite being engaged and the PR manager having a boyfriend of three years.
"They couldn’t resist getting to know each other that bit better during their time in the house," a source divulged at the time.
"Afterwards they kept things going for a while, but relations have cooled off between them since filming ended."
Their steamy merger may have been a brief affair, but the impact of their fling spilled over into the real world - with Jade breaking up with her boyfriend shortly after her stint on the BBC show.
Before The Apprentice even aired in 2019, it was rumoured upcoming stars Lottie Lion, 19, and digital marketing manager Lewis Ellis, 28, had enjoyed a brief fling during their time on the show.
It was reported the pair - who were both single at the time - enjoyed one night of passion throughout filming and desperately tried to keep their tryst private.
After being fired by Lord Sugar on the fifteenth series of the tough reality TV show, former librarian Lottie went on to claim she was dumped from a spin-off show thanks to the rumoured fling.
