Claude Littner confirms return to The Apprentice
He will be back this series!
Although we've thoroughly enjoyed the latest series of BBC show The Apprentice, following its two-year break for the pandemic, it's safe to say millionaire businessman Claude Littner has been a huge miss!
Claude, who has been Lord Alan Sugar's aide since 2015, was forced to miss the current series after a horror cycling accident last year, which left him needing nine operations on his right leg.
However, with the current series due to end in the coming weeks, Claude has revealed the amazing news he's set to return for the ICONIC interview stage of the competition.
He said: “The focus for the moment is about shining the spotlight on the remaining candidates in this series and finding the next successful business for Alan to invest in.
“The whole team went to so much trouble to have me back. I had written off this series, but it would seem Lord Sugar and the production company had other ideas!
“I’ve had so many messages on social media too from viewers saying they hope I’m coming back for the interviews and how much they miss my smiling, but obviously I’ve not been able to say anything until now.
“It was quite funny how it came about; Alan arrived at my house one day - although he phoned me almost daily - and he just said, ‘You will do the interviews, won’t you?’ and I replied, ‘Yes, of course’."
The Apprentice winners: Where are they now?:
Series 1: Tim Campbell MBE (2005)
Tim Campbell was The Apprentice's first winner in 2005. He went on to work with Lord Sugar at his company Amstrad for two years earning £100,000 before co-founding a charity.
Tim's charity, Bright Ideas Trust, was founded in 2007 and supports those from disadvantaged backgrounds to get involved in enterprise.
Then, in the 2012 New Years Honours List it was announced that Tim would be awarded the Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for Services to Enterprise Culture.
Tim replaced Claude Littner as one of Lord Sugar's aides on the most recent series of The Apprentice (2022).
Series 2: Michelle Dewberry (2006)
After winning the second series of The Apprentice and being offered a £100,000 job at Lord Sugar's Xenon Green company, Michelle decided to quit and started her own business consultancy company in 2006. After that she published a book in 2007 and worked as a columnist for Business Matters in 2009.
In 2021, Michelle became a TV presenter on her own show political show Dewbs & Co.
Series 3: Simon Ambrose (2007)
Simon Ambrose became the first winner of the series to also be a TV actor. He worked for Lord Sugar's Amsprop until deciding to set up his own property development company in 2010.
In 2018 it was reported that he was going to set up some bars and restaurants in London. He's now believed to be chairing the London Contemporary Orchestra.
Series 4: Lee McQueen (2008)
Despite lying on his CV about the time he spent at university, Lee managed to impress Lord Sugar and won the fourth series. He also called in sick on his first day at Lord Sugar's Amscreen, but went on to be one of the longest-serving apprentices, staying with the company until 2010.
After leaving Lord Sugar's company he started his own sales training company in 2010 called Raw Talent Academy.
Series 5: Yasmina Siadatan (2009)
Yasmina won the fifth series of the show and went on to work for Amscreen Health Care, the same company that previous winner Lee McQueen also worked for.
Yasmina was later headhunted by James Caan, judge on Dragon's Den, to work for his company, a private equity firm.
Series 6: Stella English (2010)
After winning the series, Stella went to work for Lord Sugar's company Viglen, but ended up suing him for 'constructive dismissal' and left after 13 months.
After a period of unemployment, Stella then appeared as a TV host on Crowd Box - TV channel which aims to help entrepreneurs raise money through crowd-funding.
Following the clash, winners of The Apprentice now get an investment from the entrepreneur, rather than a job at one of his companies.
Series 7: Tom Pellereau (2011)
Tom Pellereau was the winner for the 'newly formatted' Apprentice and won £250,000 investment for this invention which was a curved nail file called Stylfile.
Tom now has a company called Stylideas which he says is the product of invention and good fortune.
Series 8: Ricky Martin (2012)
Ricky Martin (not to be confused with the singer) is now a multimillionaire! The 2012 winner set up his own recruitment company, Hyper Recruitment Solutions. According to its website it is 'focused on mid-level to senior appointments for the science and technology industry worldwide.'
Series 9: Leah Totton (2013)
Leah started an ethical cosmetics chain of clinics called Dr Leah Clinic, which is co-owned by Lord Sugar. She also still continues to work for the NHS as a part-time A&E doctor.
Series 10: Mark Wright (2014)
Winner of the show's 10th series, Mark Wright was named as UK Entrepreneur of the year in 2018 and listed in the Forbes 30 under 30, which is an annual list of the brightest young entrepreneurs, leaders, and stars.
After winning the series he started a digital marketing agency called Climb Online.
Series 11: Joseph Valente (2015)
Joseph founded his company ImpraGas when he was just 22-years-old, after winning The Apprentice his company became the UK's biggest boiler installation business. Now, he is the CEO of the company, Trade Mastermind which he founded in 2018.
Series 12: Alana Spencer (2016)
Alana launched a launch a luxury cake business, Ridiculously Rich by Alana. She then launched cakepreneurs with Lord Sugar which is a company which bakers pay a membership for, so they can sell their goods to wholesalers.
Series 13: Sarah Lynn and James White (2017)
In 2017, Lord Sugar couldn't decide on one winner, so he chose two! Sarah Lynn chose to invest in her personalised sweet business, Sweets in the City, which now sells products in high-end shops such as Harrods, Selfridges, and Harvey Nichols.
Meanwhile, James White's win meant he could invest in his IT and infrastructure recruitment business.
Series 14: Sian Gabbidon (2018)
On winning the series, Lord Sugar became co-owner of Sian's existing swimwear company. During the pandemic, Sian then expanded into loungewear and had even more success here in the UK and abroad.
Series 15: Carina Lepore (2019)
Carina is was the most recent winner of the series before it had an unexpected hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Carina used her £250,000 investment to open her artisan bakery Dough Bake House. The company now has a branch in Herne Hill and Beckenham High Street.
Series 16: Harpreet Kaur (2022)
Harpreet Kaur became the 16th winner of the series, with her dessert parlour business. The 30-year-old from West Yorkshire currently has two dessert parlours, but is looking to expand her locations and range of products on offer.
Series 17: Marnie Swindells (2023)
Lord Sugar chose to invest in Marnie Swindells and her boxing business during the series 17 final in 2023. She said at the time: "What an incredible opportunity and moment for a girl like me to get to a place like this and have become Lord Sugar's business partner. It feels strange to even say that, but I'm not going to stop saying it because I am so happy."
Series 18: Rachel Woolford (2024)
Rachel Woolford was crowned the winner of The Apprentice series 18 in 2024, when Lord Sugar chose to invest £250,000 into her Boutique Fitness Studio.
Claude was replaced by former winner Tom Campbell for the current series whilst he continued with his rehabilitation from his nasty injury.
The 72-year-old was rushed to the trauma unit at St Mary's Hospital following the accident in April 2021, where he fell off his electric bike.
Speaking about the horrendous injury at the time, Claude said: “I was just pottering along, I must have been doing no more than 10 kilometres an hour on this sort of two-track road.
“The next thing I knew, I was on the left hand side of the street, my bike was in the middle of the road and I didn't know what happened. I suspect I hit a pothole or something like that.
“But, I must have blanked out at the moment of impact, because the next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground."
Although fans have loved having Tom on the show alongside Baroness Karen Brady, viewers can't wait to see Claude back for the interview stages next week!
Only six candidates now remain on the show, including Stephanie Affleck, Aaron Willis, Kathryn Louise Burn, Harpreet Kaur, Akeem Bundu-Kamara and Brittany Carter.
The Apprentice continues every Thursday night at 9pm on BBC One.
Now read:
The Apprentice winners: Where are they now?
The Apprentice candidate QUITS show due to health issues
All of the TV shows we can’t wait to return