Sally Nugent wasted no time comparing the latest series of The Apprentice to Love Island - despite Lord Alan Sugar already issuing a savage response to the claims. The candidates for the upcoming 17th series of the BBC One show were revealed on Tuesday (January 3).
Lord Sugar is back on the hunt for his next business partner and there will be a whopping 18 more hopefuls vying to win the coveted opportunity of being the billionaire business boss' latest business partner.
He will be looking out for the best person to give his quarter-of-a-million-pound investment to with the help of former winner Tim Campbell and Baroness Karen Brady. Claude Littner, who has been an advisor to Lord Sugar on the hit BBC show since 2015, will also return for two episodes after recovering from injuries he sustained in a serious accident last year.
And with more contestants that the previous series - including the self-proclaimed 'Kim Kardashian' and 'James Bond' of the business world - Lord Sugar will be needed the trio's help more than ever to whittle down the candidates.
While the first episode is yet to air, with the series beginning on BBC One on Thursday (January 5), people have been reacting to the line-up. Appearing on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday morning (January 4) hosts Jon Kay and Sally Nugent were discussing the latest candidates as the first snap made it into today's papers.
Jon held up a cast photo of the 2023 candidates, to which Sally asked: "Are we sure this is The Apprentice?" He agreed and replied: "I know, they're a very glamorous lot, aren't they? You were saying it's more like Love Island."
Sally then quizzed: "Are we sure it's not Love Island, maybe? No, it's The Apprentice." She then laughed as they mentioned some of the quotes given by the candidates to big themselves up, saying: "There are some brilliant quotes!" before defending Lord Sugar and the show's recruitment process.
She did, however, add after her initial comments: "Lord Sugar himself says that he's actually very involved in the recruitment process, so it's not about what they look like, it's about their business brains."
It comes after Lord Sugar addressed the comparisons between his show and ITV2's dating hit Love Island due to its contestant. Speaking to The Mirror and other press, the British businessman said he "doesn’t know" of the show’s similarly to Love Island, adding: "I'd be able to answer that question if I ever watched Love Island."
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