The Apprentice contestant leaves series ahead of next episode for health reasons

Participant was unable to fly to Dubai for this week’s task

One of the candidates on The Apprentice has left the series midway through for health reasons.

The news comes ahead of an episode in which the entrepreneurial hopefuls travel to Dubai for a task.

The show’s remaining contestants are tasked with organising a corporate away day for two international businesses based in the country.

However, for medical reasons, one of the contestants was unable to make the trip to Dubai.

Spoilers follow for the next episode of The Apprentice.

The candidate in question is Reece Donnelly, a Glaswegian theatre school owner.

Speaking to the Daily Star, Donnelly confirmed: “I could not continue in The Apprentice due to being unable to complete the task in Dubai for health reasons.”

“My goal of being on The Apprentice was to showcase that Scotland has amazing businesses and entrepreneurs. I really hope I’ve done that,” he added.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time on the show and I’m looking forward to watching my fellow candidates in the rest of the series. I’m so grateful for my time with Lord Sugar and the team.”

‘The Apprentice’ contestant Reece Donnelly (BBC/Fremantle Media/Ray Burmiston)

Earlier this series, fellow contestant Shannon Martin also left the show of her own volition.

In a four-star review of the new series for The Independent, Nick Hilton wrote: “The contestants don’t let us down. The show’s producers seem to be engaged in battle against the law of diminishing returns.

“To keep the viewers still interested, they have to make the contestants more and more grotesque, and stretch that chasm between their self-perception and reality ever wider. It’s a battle they are winning, even though I suspect that there was a little bit of coaching required to make the young wannabes sound as ludicrous as they do.”

New episodes ofThe Apprentice air at 9pm on BBC One every Thursday.