With soon to be twenty series and counting, Lord Alan Sugar has made many business partners. However, the mogul is far from done.
Earlier this year, Dean Franklin secured the £250,000 investment, narrowly beating competition from Anisa Khan who had a restaurant and delivery business that fused Indian flavours with traditional Italian pizzas.
BBC’s The Apprentice will return not just for another main series, but also a festive celebrity special. If you want to know when you can see the drama on your screens once again, keep reading. We also have a similar article for Gladiators series 3.
When could The Apprentice series 20 be released?
The BBC has not confirmed when The Apprentice series 20 will air, but we can hazard a guess as to when it will be.
2025’s instalment kicked off on Thursday 30 January 2025 at 9pm GMT on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, while the series before that aired on 1 February 2024.
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The past two series have usually kicked off after The Traitors has finished, which usually has 12 episodes – with three airing each week. If the show follows the same schedule, then it would finish around 24 January 2026 based on the pattern of the first three instalments.
So, that would leave a Thursday evening slot free. That means we can expect to possibly see The Apprentice return as early as Thursday 29 January 2026.
This is all speculation based on previous years – we may learn more over the Christmas period, as some celebrities will be heading to the boardroom first…
When will The Celebrity Apprentice air?
Children in Need may be long over, but the charity is still airing a special charity special double bill of Celebrity Apprentice on Monday 29 December at Tuesday 30 December at 9pm, making it a great way to pass the time between Christmas Day and New Year’s.
The task for this year will see celebrities shipped off to Lapland to create their own festive gingerbread biscuit, complete with branding, a jingle and a TV advert – get ready to cringe.
The celebrities taking part this year are:
- AJ Odudu
- Angela Scanlon
- Charlie Hedges
- Eddie Kadi
- Jake Wood
- JB Gill
- Kadeena Cox
- Matt Morsia
- Rob Rinder
- Sarah Hadland
- Shazia Mirza
- Tom Skinner
You’ll notice that Tim Campbell has been replaced for interviewer Mike Soutar, but according to the official press release this was due to scheduling with the filming dates. Therefore, we expect Tim will return as Lord Sugar’s trusted advisor for series 20, along with Baroness Brady.
Is there a trailer for series 20 of The Apprentice UK?
Not yet! But we’ll add it in as soon as it’s available.
Have the contestants been announced for The Apprentice series 20?
Again, no. We expect that news on them will drop in January. As this is a milestone year, there might be a twist on the usual format.
Will The Apprentice return for series 21?
As applications for series 21 are now open (and will be until 11 January 2026), we’re willing to bet that the BBC will be renewing The Apprentice for next year, as usual.
