BBC bosses furious after Apprentice candidate brags they’re in the final before episode airs
AN APPRENTICE star faces being fired before the show has even started - after bragging to pals they made the final.
The contestant, who we are not naming, has sent BBC bosses into meltdown after potentially breaching their contract blabbing about making the last two.
Production chiefs are scrambling to stop the identity spreading as filming for the 12 weeks of business challenges, overseen by Lord Sugar, has already been completed.
TV industry sources said it would be ‘virtually impossible and incredibly costly’ to attempt to re-shoot and edit the entire series now that it’s recorded and ready to broadcast ahead of this week’s opening show.
The live final is not until December meaning staff have a mammoth task to stop it leaking on social media.
If it was made public they could be forced to massively alter the direction of the show to keep viewers in suspense.
A source told The Sun on Sunday: “This is a worst nightmare for bosses as they try and build suspense before the first show airs on Wednesday.
“The contestant has seriously annoyed a lot of people by not keeping this to themselves. You would have thought this will be weighing heavily on Lord Sugar’s mind when he ultimately decides who’s hired in the final.”
The 15th series of the BBC One hit show kicks off on Wednesday and sees eight women and eight men compete to win £250,000 investment for their business.
Since starting in 2005 it has gone on to become one of the most popular shows on telly.
Contestants are sworn to secrecy over who makes the final and it is unprecedented for one to brag about it before a single episode has even aired.
Nothing has been leaked online but with word spreading the name could come out at any moment.
A source said: “Producers have been left with little choice other than to keep everything crossed and hope no-one talks online.
“You would expect some very strong words being directed at the individual who slipped up here.”
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Lord Sugar, 72, has announced he wants to do five more series of the show despite only being contracted for a 16th.
He will be joined by Sun on Sunday columnist Baroness Karren Brady, 50, and Claude Littner, 70, who will help decide who is hired.
A spokesman for The Apprentice declined to comment.
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