The Apprentice 2026: Meet the 20 candidates, from a barbershop owner to an AI consultant
All you need to know about the new series of The Apprentice
- The 20th series of The Apprentice is scheduled to launch later this month, featuring 20 ambitious candidates vying for Lord Sugar's £250,000 investment.
- Lord Sugar will be supported by his long-standing advisers, Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell, throughout the 12-episode series, which returns to iPlayer and BBC One from January 29.
- Tasks for the new series include creating a children’s book, selling products live on television, and orchestrating a corporate away day on the Red Sea in El Gouna, Egypt.
- The diverse cohort of candidates includes a mortgage broker who cites Kim Kardashian as a role model and an actor planning a touring theatrical production company.
- Other contestants range from a former RAF gunner running a pet cremation business to a student recruitment owner and a tech project manager.