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The BBC has condemned a comment made by Apprentice
Earlier this month, it was reported that Lion had referred to Lubna Farhan as “Gandhi” in a WhatsApp group chat ahead of the premiere of this year’s series, writing: “Lubna I f***ing swear if you disrespect me again I will f*** you up, you embarrassing failure of a businesswoman… Shut up Ghandi (sic) that doesn’t even make sense.”
In a statement to The Independent, the BBC said: “ While this happened on a private messenger service once filming had concluded, the BBC nevertheless still expects the candidates to behave appropriately.
“The production company have looked into the issue and reported back, Lottie has been informed that her comments were wholly unacceptable and is in no doubt about our view on this.”
Lion previously told PA: “My use of the word Gandhi was misinterpreted, it was as candidates in the group chat had been quoting Gandhi previously."
Show all 16 1 /16The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants Dean Ahmad, 20 Dean founded his sports management agency aged 15 and believes he is "the definition of an entrepreneur", with confidence and emotional intelligence that are "off the charts". He believes his "gift of the gab" could "persuade anyone to do anything".
FIRED WEEK 10
BBC
The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants Scarlett Allen-Horton, 32 Recruitment company owner Scarlett says that her upbeat personality means that people "will often buy into her as a person," but admits that she sometimes struggles to accept help from others. Could this cause fireworks in the show's infamous group tasks?
The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants Jemelin Artigas, 34 Network marketing consultant Jemelin claims she is "1000 percent committed" to winning every task but warns that she can be "next-level stubborn" when it comes to getting her own way.
FIRED WEEK SEVEN
The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants Souleyman Bath, 20 Para athlete and motivational speaker Souleyman trains with the Great Britain Paralympic team as a sprinter, having been diagnosed with Retina Pigmentosa aged six. "The less sight I have, the more imagination I gain, because what you see is what you see and what you don't see is when the magic begins," he says.
FIRED WEEK THREE
The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants Lewis Ellis, 28 Lewis is a digital marketing project manager and describes himself as a "maverick", who believes his competitiveness and determination will see him through the process. He adds: "I may not be the smartest guy in the room, but I’ll sure as hell work harder.”
FIRED WEEK 11 WITH LOTTIE AND PAMELA
The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants Lubna Farhan, 33 Finance manager Lubna says she believes she has the "whole package" after turning herself into her own role model. A bookworm, the contestant describes herself as a "dark horse", adding: "I came from a council estate… I have made myself into something good and I’m on my way to becoming something great”.
FIRED WEEK FOUR
The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants Riyonn Farsad, 30 Events manager Riyonn invented his own card game which is part of his "little black book full of multi-million-pound ideas”. He says his personality is his best asset, but won't let friends get in the way of coming out on top.
FIRED WEEK FIVE
The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants Shahin Hassan, 36 Chartered engineer Shahin credits Elon Musk as one of his role models because he “thinks outside the box”, a quality he prides himself in having and thinks that his imagination will make him stand out from the other candidates.
FIRED WEEK ONE
The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants Pamela Laird, 29 Beauty brand owner Pamela describes herself as "feisty and passionate" with a charismatic personality, which enables her to excel in sales. She says: “I love to be the under-estimated person in the room.”
FIRED WEEK 11 WITH LOTTIE AND LEWIS
The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants Carina Lepore, 30 Carina owns an artisan bakery. She says she is a natural leader and that people latch onto her to benefit from the influence she carries. She believes it’s “written in the stars” that she’ll be Lord Sugar’s next Apprentice, describing herself as a "pocket rocket" due to her height (5ft 1").
The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants Lottie Lion, 19 Lottie the librarian says she is “very cut throat” and insists that she is no push over. She believes her poise and her “powers of persuasion” are her greatest business qualities, noting that people with bad manners anger her and that she gets frustrated when things don’t adhere to her high standards.
FIRED WEEK 11 WITH LEWIS AND PAMELA
BBC
The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants Ryan-Mark Parsons, 19 Ryan-Mark is an award-winning public speaker who admires the Queen and describes himself as the "epitome of luxury". Despite believing his best asset to be his ability to “forge a connection with anyone” he adds: "I'm not afraid to be ruthless when it comes to the other candidates."
FIRED WEEK EIGHT
The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants Iasha Masood, 27 Iasha is an account manager who thinks her “crazy, controversial, eccentric personality” will help her go far as she believes her "natural persona" will help her win. But watch out for her enemies - Masood is not afraid of keeping her friends close but her enemies closer, and she says: "I can read people just by looking at their body language, they won’t realise it until it’s too late – and checkmate”.
FIRED WEEK SIX
The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants Kenna Ngoma, 24 Before creating his alcohol-infused ice cream company in 2018, Kenna played semi-professional football for Manchester City before that was cut short by injury in 2013. Kenna believes he is enthusiastic with an “infectious personality”, which he hopes will aid him to befriend the strongest candidates to help him build alliances.
FIRED WEEK TWO
The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants Marianne Rawlins, 36 Marianne owns a risk management consultancy and moved from the US to the UK in 2017. She admits that she doesn’t have a filter and may need to “dial down her American-ness” and take a step back, as she says she can be too direct.
FIRED WEEK NINE WITH THOMAS
The Apprentice 2019 – Meet the contestants Thomas Skinner, 28 Pillow company owner Thomas started out in business aged 12, with a paper round, and later worked on the markets when he was 16. Since then he has set up his own pillow company, attributing his business success to his “sharp”, “street wise” character.
FIRED WEEK NINE WITH MARIANNE
She added: “The comments were taken out of context, and I ask the public not to make judgment without knowing the full context. At the moment, I would like my focus to be on the show, and I’m not interested in negative media attention.”
In a recent podcast interview, fired Apprentice contestant Souleyman Bah also spoke about his own experience of racism on the show, which he suggested producers failed to act on.
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