The Apprentice has wrapped its sixteenth series and crowned Harpreet Kaur the winner, securing Lord Alan Sugar ’s £250,000 investment after a gruelling few weeks.
The final of the hit BBC business show saw Harpreet, 30, and Kathryn Burn, 28, battle it out in the final challenge as a number of this year’s fired candidates returned to help on the intensive three-day challenge.
After the pair pitched to Lord Sugar and a room full of industry experts, Kathryn and Harpreet returned to the boardroom with Karren Brady and Tim Campbell to learn who had been crowned winner of the 2022 series.
But, despite The Apprentice being filmed last summer, even the two finalists were kept in the dark about which of the hopefuls had received the £250,000 until just before the final.
In a bid to prevent spoilers, the BBC show filmed two endings of the series - one in which Harpreet wins and another in which Kathryn clinches it.
Winner Harpreet described feeling in “limbo” while enduring the “long wait” to learn the real winner.
“Everything on The Apprentice is filmed as you see it - there's no acting,” she said. “But at the end you do have to film two alternates. It's just been amazing to finally have that closure of okay, so it did win.”
Runner-up Kathryn agreed the experience of filming two endings was “weird”, adding: “For me, even to be in the final I was happy, so whatever way it was going to go, I was really pleased.”
The Apprentice website confirms that two endings are filmed to keep the real winner under wraps, adding: “Lord Sugar does not tell the production team and the finalists about the identity of his new business partner until the day before the transmission of the final programme.”
“He makes his decision on the day of the final boardroom meeting. As there is a gap between the shoot and transmission (to leave time for editing), measures are taken to ensure that the outcome is kept a secret for viewers prior to transmission.”
Winner Harpreet has detailed her plans to scale up her confectionery business Oh So Yum!, with the company launching nationwide shipping to sweet-toothed fans after securing the coveted partnership with Lord Sugar.
Meanwhile runner-up Kathryn said she is “really proud” of her performance through the process, adding: “Lord Sugar chose Harpreet because obviously, he thought that she was the right business person for him and that's absolutely fine.
“I wouldn't change anything to be completely honest with you. Maybe if I changed something, I wouldn't be in the final, so I don't really have regrets because whatever I did at the time, I thought was a good idea.”
The Apprentice You're Hired! spin-off follows the final at 10pm on BBC Two.
