The Apprentice (British TV series) series 6

Series overview

After receiving applications from all over the country, production staff held regional auditions and interviews throughout July 2009, followed by a second round of interviews and assessments in London to determine the final selection of sixteen candidates. Prior to work beginning on the series, Karren Brady replaced Margaret Mountford as one of Lord Sugar's aides. Her appointment was given a trial run during the production and broadcast of the first series of Young Apprentice, before it was finalised for the main programme. Meanwhile, Mountford agreed to appear as an interviewer in the Interviews stage.

Filming for the sixth series began in Autumn 2009, with a projected air date of March 2010. However, the announcement that a General Election would be taking place in May of that year meant that the broadcaster had to postpone the series until the start of October, due to Sugar's then-official ties with the Labour government at the time. In a statement made about the postponement of the sixth series, Sugar revealed that running it during the General Election would have been a risk to the broadcaster's political impartiality rules, due in part to his recent appointment as a Lord in the House of Lords earlier that year; this also explained the altering of his address from "Sir Alan" in previous series, to "Lord Sugar" from series 6 onwards.

The series finale saw a crossover episode between The Apprentice and its sister show, The Apprentice: You're Fired!, on BBC One. The episode was formatted with a short intro by the host of You're Fired, before leading onto the series finale of the main show, to be immediately followed by the full episode of You're Fired!; subsequent repeats of the series finale only included the main show's episode. Production staff later decided to create subsequent crossover finales of the two episodes in future series, after finding the crossover format to appeal to viewers.

The team names for the series were Synergy and Apollo. Prior to the start of filming for the second episode, Raleigh Addington was forced to drop out of the show after a member of his family was badly injured while on active duty in the British armed forces. His departure meant that Sugar had to avoid multiple firings outside of the Interviews stage. Of those who remained, Stella English would become the eventual winner, whereupon she remained in Sugar's employment until issues began to surface in May 2011, whilst working for his company Viglen. Complaining that she required a new role, as the existing one made her work like a "glorified PA" for Sugar, her contract was not renewed. After unsuccessfully suing Sugar, she would later face financial difficulties, before eventually securing work with crowdfunding TV channel Crowd Box TV.

Candidates

Performance chart

Key: : The candidate won this series of The Apprentice. : The candidate was the runner-up. : The candidate won as project manager on his/her team, for this task. : The candidate lost as project manager on his/her team, for this task. : The candidate was on the winning team for this task / they passed the Interviews stage. : The candidate was on the losing team for this task. : The candidate was brought to the final boardroom for this task. : The candidate was fired in this task. : The candidate lost as project manager for this task and was fired. : The candidate left the process.

Episodes

Notes: Prior to recording for this episode's task, Raleigh Addington was forced to leave the programme due to an emergency family matter. The nature of the matter was later revealed on You're Fired! following this episode's broadcast.

Notes: When this episode was first broadcast, it originally formed part of a two-hour crossover special with the programme's sister show, The Apprentice: You're Fired. After the crossover special, the episode was broadcast separately in subsequent repeats.

Controversy

Behaviour of Stella English after filming

Following the sixth series conclusion, production staff became concerned with the behaviour of Stella English after she had won the contest. A few days after winning a job under Alan Sugar, English quit her post after deeming it to be "a sham" employment. Shortly after her resignation, she complained against her former employer's response to her decision and subsequently attempted to sue him for constructive dismissal. Both Sugar and the producers disapproved of the negative media attention that English brought about after her case was dismissed, and agreed during a meeting that the format of The Apprentice could not continue for the next series. As a result, the format underwent a complete revamp before production began on the seventh series.

Ratings

Official episode viewing figures are from BARB.

References

References

1. (28 September 2010). "The Apprentice series six: introduction". [[BBC]] Press Office.
2. [https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2010/feb/28/karren-brady-the-apprentice-interview Karren Brady: 'I love The Apprentice, it's one of the best experiences of my life'] The Observer, 28 February 2010
3. (10 November 2009). "Apprentice delayed until summer". [[BBC News]].
4. "The Workings of the Apprentice". [[BBC]].
5. "Apprentice contender Raleigh quits". [[Belfast Telegraph]].
6. Jefferies, Mark. (28 May 2011). "The Apprentice winner Stella English demands a new job from Lord Alan Sugar – and gets it". [[Daily Mirror]].
7. (12 April 2012). "Apprentice winner Stella English loses case against Lord Sugar". The Guardian.
8. (1 October 2018). "Apprentice winners through the years – and where they are now". Daily Star.
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11. "Bakery, Series 6, The Apprentice – BBC One".
12. "Selling to Trade, Series 6, The Apprentice – BBC One".
13. "Fashion, Series 6, The Apprentice – BBC One".
14. "Advertising, Series 6, The Apprentice – BBC One".
15. "DVD, Series 6, The Apprentice – BBC One".
16. "Crisps, Series 6, The Apprentice – BBC One".
17. "Discount Buying, Series 6, The Apprentice – BBC One".
18. "London Tours, Series 6, The Apprentice – BBC One".
19. "The Final Five, Series 6, The Apprentice – BBC One".
20. "Interviews, Series 6, The Apprentice – BBC One".
21. "Why I Fired Them, Series 6, The Apprentice – BBC One".
22. "The Final, Series 6, The Apprentice – BBC One".
23. Claire Hodgson. (26 September 2013). "The rise and fall of The Apprentice's Stella English". Daily Mirror.
24. Judd, Terri. (12 April 2013). "'Tantamount to blackmail': Apprentice winner Stella English is the loser over dismissal claim". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
25. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". [[Broadcasters' Audience Research Board]].