Lord has confirmed the interview round in will be ‘toned down’ after backlash.
after watching the latest round of interviews earlier this year when contestants were reduced to tears.
Victoria Goulbourne was hoping to impress with her confectionary business idea but was instead told to by one of Lord Sugar’s advisors, Linda Plant.
The Amstrad mogul has now said that even he was shocked watching the interviews back and vowed to make some changes to the show’s penultimate episode.
‘I think we need to tone that down a bit. I found it hard to watch,’ he said.
He added to The Times: ‘Unfortunately when that was recorded, I wasn’t there.
‘Anyway, I’m not making any excuses. When I saw it in the end, I thought, “This is too harsh”, and we’re going to tone it down now.’
The head-honcho of the boardroom insisted the interview stage was no longer entertaining.
‘It used to be entertaining. All the previous boardroom [episode] 11s were entertaining. This one was very harsh. I agree with you,’ he said.
After complaints from viewers that the interviews were a step too far, a spokesperson for the show said: ‘The interviews round is more than just a normal interview. Its purpose is to help determine whose business plan has the potential to secure the £250k investment.
‘As such, every detail must be thoroughly scrutinised and advisors will at times need to ask difficult questions. The stakes are high for candidates and emotions do run high as they want to secure a place in the final.’
The latest series saw Marnie Swindells and Rochelle Raye survive the interviews round, with
The Apprentice is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
