You're Hired The Apprentice: You're Fired

Ladies and gentlemen, we have an Apprentice first.

There has never in the history of the show been more than one winner.

Never until now. I'm Rhod Gilbert.

Welcome to The Apprentice: You're Hired And You're Hired As Well.

Unbelievably, Lord Sugar has doubled his investment and agreed to pay

out a total of £500,000 to Sarah and James as his new business partners.

It was a stressful few days for our two finalists

and the mood in both camps was very, very serious.

Merge them together and "Connect-it".

The only thing I would say is, like, do you know when you put it

all together and then, look at that,

you've got, like, "TIT". I just don't...

In the studio tonight, we'll be meeting both winners and finding

out from Lord Sugar first-hand why he made this historic decision.

Plus I'll be remembering some of the good, the bad and the lovely

moments from this year's series, with help from all the candidates.

To help me sort out the wheat from the other wheat,

I need a panel of Apprentice fans and guests and I've got one.

So, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, Apprentice uberfan,

comedian Russell Kane, the one and only Karren Brady

and the equally unique Mr Claude Littner!

-Hello, again.

-Good to see you.

-Mr Littner.

-All right.

-Welcome.

So, Claude, Claude, I'll come to you first. I can hardly believe my ears.

Lord Sugar's gone and hired them both. Did you have a hand in this?

Well, I didn't have a hand in it exactly,

but I'm very, very pleased with the outcome. I think it's brilliant.

Good. Karren? Lord Sugar's got to stump up £500,000.

Are you going to have to lend him a bit?

Oh, no, ha-ha-ha, I think he's going to be fine on that front.

You know what Alan loves, he loves investing in people,

he loves investing in business.

He believes so passionately in giving people a chance and he

saw two young people and he couldn't tear himself between the two

of them so he's going to back them both and good for him.

Fair enough. Russell, I know you're a massive Apprentice fan,

-been watching it for years. WTF?

-I know.

-HLSGB?

-Has Lord Sugar gone bonkers?

-It was a mic drop.

I thought a microphone was going to come up from behind the desk

and he was just going to drop it and drop 500 large ones.

It's the best result, though, isn't it?

The show's about recruitment, Lord Sugar's named after a sweet.

He had to hire both of them.

It's the best... I think James' middle parting in Fashion Week

was a metaphor for how the show was going to finish.

So, much more to come but first, for the last time this series,

let's see what's made the Apprentice News.

Team GB rejects accusations

of athletes taking performance-reducing drugs.

James is unsure when Joanna advises him

to wear a bikini for his big pitch.

I've done a pageant before and it really makes a difference.

Claude explains to Lord Sugar how he chooses

between a madras and a vindaloo.

The truth is, Alan, in the end, your gut tells you everything.

And that was tonight's Apprentice News.

Now, I don't know if I've mentioned it, but we have an historic

Apprentice moment on our hands, a win-win, no loser, double win.

A win that's a draw and a win all at the same time.

Here's the moment Lord Sugar took us all by surprise.

Not least James and Sarah.

Um, I'm going to say...

..that I'm a gambler...

..and I've always been a gambler in business.

This particular year...

..I'm going to double my investment

and I'm going to start a business with both of you.

Thank you.

Please welcome Apprentice 2017 winners James White and Sarah Lynn.

Sarah, good to meet you. Congratulations, James.

Thank you, thank you.

-Part of Apprentice history, Sarah?

-Oh, it's incredible.

It is just the best feeling, the best outcome.

-It's a dream come true.

-Yeah.

-Were you surprised, James, when you both won?

-Yeah.

Yeah, I was very surprised, but I couldn't win with someone

better, so a good outcome all round, right?

Right. And we need to speak to both of you, obviously, but I'm going to

follow Lord Sugar's example, how we choose who we speak to first.

-So, James, you call it.

-Heads.

-Sorry, ladies first.

All right, let's run it again.

James, you call.

-Karren, you call it.

-Uh, heads.

It is heads. We'll talk to Sarah first.

James, into the audience, off you go.

We'll speak to you later.

So, Sarah. Part of Apprentice history, how does it feel?

-You happy?

-Oh, it's just... It's incredible. I'm speechless.

-It's so, so good.

-Don't be speechless tonight.

You can't be speechless. Can't be speechless, we need to talk to you.

I'm told I need to speak up, so, yeah, it's incredible.

I'm so happy and so proud and privileged to be a part of it

-and just cannot wait to get started now.

-You got emotional in the final.

We haven't seen a huge amount of emotion from you throughout

the series, but in the final, you sort of...

I tried to hold it back at work and in business, and just try to crack

on, as you saw, and it was nice, I think, just the final,

I got to talk about my business,

I got to talk about things I was passionate about, which was

a bit different to picking up dog poo and hosting fashion shows.

So, for me, it was just great and I loved it and it was a relief and I'm

just so happy that I made it there cos that was always the aim, so...

-It's been a long process, tough process.

-Yeah, it's tough.

-Did you enjoy it all or was it just the ending?

-No, I enjoyed...

I think, at the time, you're so engrossed in it all,

you don't even understand what an incredible experience it is

and how much you'll learn about yourself and everything,

so you're just sort of coping day-to-day

and living in a house with...er, amazing people, over there.

No, it's just, the whole thing's quite overwhelming

so it's only afterwards, when you're talking with your family

and friends, you realise what an incredible thing it is

and hopefully does lots of good things in the future for me.

-Karren.

-Yes.

-Was there a time that you remembering starting to think

that you had a potential winner there? Do you remember a moment?

I think it...

Sarah would say this was her lowest point

but I thought it was quite a high point.

And that was in the robot task,

when you had that terrible row in the street

and it was all going really badly, everything was falling apart,

all the girls were fighting amongst each other but, as always,

you managed to retain your cool, be sensible, not get emotional,

try and steer your way through

and I thought, "This is the sort of woman

"that I would be in these type of situations -

"try to be strong, try to bring people together,

"try to avoid the conflict, walk away from the arguments,"

and I thought, "You're going places."

-Oh, thank you.

-Sarah has managed to sort of avoid a lot of the drama.

Claude, did you see her winning this?

Well, I'll tell you that I think that Sarah, right from the start,

was a very good candidate and one has to say that she was composed.

For me, I had a moment,

if you like, when you and James were in the car in Bruges,

when James came up with one idea, to try and get some chocolate samples free,

and you then came up with the idea of actually trying to get

some commission for bringing the people in and, at that moment,

I thought, "These are two very, very bright people,

"with real entrepreneurial spirit," so that, for me, was the moment when,

from that moment on, I thought, "I'm really taking these two seriously."

I thought you got the ferry to Bruges.

Such a nit-picker.

Russell, did you see her winning this?

You know I did, Rhod, cos I was on very early in the run of this show

and you asked me to predict a winner and I picked Sarah straightaway.

In fact, I think I've cracked a bit of a formula with this show.

It's always... Yes, it's an ambitious, passionate person,

but clear-headed, calm under duress, driven.

The people that never win are never the people that say, "I'm going

"to smash everyone, if I lose, I'm going to set the house on fire.

"When I'm indoors, I wear a mask of Lord Sugar with the eyes cut out.

"I will win The Apprentice this year." Those people never win.

It's always the people that go slightly down the middle and that's

what you did - the silent killer, in your ninja mask at the back.

"I will win" and, bang, investment and out.

Well, Sarah, let's meet your new business partner.

Please welcome Lord Sugar!

-Welcome.

-How are you, Rhod?

-Welcome. I'm very well. Grab a seat.

Grab a seat. You've made history. A double win on The Apprentice.

Yes, yes.

This is a historic moment, I suppose,

in the 13 years we've been doing this, is that right?

Yeah. And it's really because of... Well, I said it in the episode.

-I was... Couldn't make a decision. It had to be both of them.

-Yeah.

Is that it, really...

Just couldn't? If you'd stayed there a few more days?

You could do that, flip a coin, but that would've been unfair,

wouldn't it, really?

Yeah, they were two genuinely great experts in their fields

-and I'm looking forward to going into business with them.

-Yeah.

And you must feel... You know, chucking out £500,000.

Oh, I thought you was going to say something...

I thought you were going to say to me,

"You must really feel one of them's better than the other."

Oh, yeah, that's good TV! Which one do you prefer?

-Which one do you like best?

-Um, yeah.

Um, no, I like them both so, no, it's £500,000, as you've said, you

know, it just goes to show that the investment that I'm prepared to

make means that I'm genuinely... was genuinely torn as to who

I was going to go into business with.

Even for you, that's a lot of money.

-Double the risk.

-Yeah, double the risk.

Yeah, but, you know, as I said in the film, I'm a gambler, so...

You know. I'm sure I've placed a good bet here.

I haven't gone wrong in the past with all the other people

that we've gone into business with. They seem to have done OK.

The closest I can come to this, to get my head around it, is sometimes

in Indian restaurants I can't decide between a prawn madras

-and a chicken biryani.

-Yeah.

-So I have both.

The investment here is slightly more.

Yeah, little less spicy, I would think.

On to Sarah specifically, what did you see in her?

Well, I think a very steady businessperson who's already

got a business going and has successfully run a business

and I think it's ready to go like that.

That's the point, to scale it up,

and that's where I come into it, where my people come into it,

to go that next mile where she's got the confidence now to have an

investor like me to actually tell her what she can do

and what she can't do and give her the confidence to move it forward.

I have no idea about sweets, other than they break my teeth,

and you're the boss, you know your business.

All I'm going to do is make sure that we're going to do

the correct mentoring from a business point of view.

I think we'll expand that business very, very quickly.

OK. Sarah's confectionary business plan and can-dy attitude...

LORD SUGAR GROANS ..clearly appealed.

Clearly appealed to Lord Sugar and ended with the sweet,

sweet smell of success.

Let's see where it all went so sweet.

Now, Sarah, you already run a sweets gifting business, but I need

convincing that you can grow your

new business into a giant brand.

Sarah's Chic Sweets and then the strapline is

"saying it with sweets".

I mean, there's a lot of sweets

in there. I'm feeling stressed out.

Lord Sugar was looking for a brand that had growth

and scalability and Sarah's Chic Sweets just doesn't do it.

I also thought of Sweeteze.

It's punchy, it's one word, it's not such a mouthful.

-I think that works a lot better.

-Much happier with this.

Retro candy, saying it with sweets.

Creating memories.

The whole concept of Sweeteze is about sending a smile in a jar.

She's right. There's no-one doing this particularly well within

-the industry.

-Lord Sugar, this won't just be an investment for you.

I will be the most successful Apprentice candidate there has been.

Big words!

We did see a more competitive Sarah in that final bit in the boardroom.

-You and James...

-Yeah.

Sort of little tug, little bit of competitive spirit coming out there.

Well, you're fighting, at that point, for your life,

and you just have to really, you have to go for it and you

have to say everything you want to say and you have to try and be calm.

And it is, it's... Yeah. It's not an environment... It's not fun.

But it's your one chance

to explain to Lord Sugar and Karren and Claude,

what you're about and that you do have passion

-and that you can succeed.

-It was a stressful few days.

-Yeah.

That long walk down.

It's always such a long walk they make you do down to the pitch.

What was going through your mind on that half-hour walk?

Do you know, it was...

It was just surreal, to be walking down there and,

to be honest, I was really excited and pumped up

and I think the nerves were less than they had been at other stages

because I knew what I was talking about and it was my business

and my idea, so I felt really confident, but, obviously,

as you walk down those stairs, it's overwhelming to see everybody

and to see Lord Sugar and Karren and Claude and you just want

to give it your all and you want to say everything in five minutes

and you have to kind of just think about what you say and breathe.

You clearly did a fab job.

Russell, whenever I watch that pitch...

I mean, comedians, we do that kind of thing,

stand up on your own in front of the public every night.

Every time I watch that, every year, I think that looks terrifying.

I mean, I am a seasoned performer, I go out in front of people

every night, but to go in front of your peers, terrifying.

I would have come down those stairs like...

Do you know when a horse has just been born and its legs...

I probably would have overdosed on Imodium in the toilets.

There's also never a gig worth £250,000 at the end of it.

No. Well, there is at some of mine, but that's beside the point.

Lord Sugar, do you feel pressure in those pitches,

because you've assembled all these industry experts,

this throng of people and then you've got two people very nervous,

you know, putting themselves out. If that goes badly, does it...?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you do feel a little bit nervous that

I have called in experts and I've got my two candidates there

who could really embarrass themselves in front of everyone.

Once they get going, you can see the nerves are draining out of them

and they're getting on with it.

This was the product that you very cannily, I thought,

left around for everybody, just as a little bribe.

Much more difficult for James to leave his IT branding.

"Dear Lord Sugar, here's to a sweet new business venture,

"yours sincerely, Sarah Lynn." You looked impressed with this.

It's a good idea.

And it was designed so that it goes through a letterbox

-and you can see a sleeve go over it.

-Claude was tucking in at one point.

-Those are your favourite.

-It never touched my lips, Alan, honestly.

-What goes there? Prawns.

-I couldn't tell you.

-Prawns or that one.

How many boxes did you get through, Claude?

-Be honest.

-About three, yeah.

It's a good bribe.

You originally had Harrison's branding, of course,

that they came up with, the...

HE TRIPS OVER THE WORDS

The tongue twister they come up with. Harrison?

What have you got to say for yourself?

Sarah has seen the final now herself,

she can see the absolute lies you told about the market research.

"100% of people loved it, everyone is going to rush home

"and sell their house to buy as many sweets as they can.

"I wish you could have been there. I wish you could have been there."

You didn't mention the terrible billboard.

No, to be honest, I just wanted her to do well.

She had a stressful situation coming up so I don't think a few negative

comments from some angry commuters would have helped that, so...

Karren, they didn't give her the negative feedback.

How well did Sarah's team support her vision, do you think?

Well, I don't think they really understood Sarah's...

-LORD SUGAR:

-Don't hold back.

I'll try to be as polite and as direct as possible.

But I think you were clearly disappointed.

You are all about an elegant yet direct solution to problems.

I've noticed that in all the weeks I've followed you.

And yet the brand with the sweets and the umbrella and the name,

I really did feel for you.

Your sub team, Sarah, had to get on with the billboard,

-the promotional video, without you there to supervise.

-Yes.

Let's remind ourselves how your creative supremos got on.

Action.

Siobhan, you're taking the piss! Give him the flowers.

Siobhan! You can't just do that!

All right, I'll do it properly now.

Do it properly, stop being a bellend!

-Delivery?

-You're kidding me, sending me this crap.

-Action!

-No!

I've got to ring the doorbell!

Give over, Siobhan, you're being annoying.

Siobhan, Siobhan, where are you?

That promotional video looked fun to shoot.

Are you disappointed your bit throwing the flowers

into the street didn't make the final cut?

I'm devastated, yeah.

Michaela, you weren't sure that Sarah was going to like what you

came up with and you were right, she didn't, but she got on with it.

Yes, it wasn't great, was it?

But I was dealing with Siobhan and Andrew...

Oh, no, it was Harrison, actually. Siobhan and Harrison, even worse!

Was it fun, shooting that video?

-Do you think it looked fun?

-I thought Siobhan was having fun.

Well, we have Sarah's family in the audience, I believe.

Family Lynn, where are you guys? Give us a wave.

There's loads of them.

-Dad, Kevin, are you up there?

-I'm here.

-Did you expect her to win?

Did I expect her to win? The apple didn't fall far from the tree.

Lord Sugar has made a very, very good investment.

Mum, Jackie, where are you?

Where does she get her supercool confident, unflappable,

-Zen-like calm from?

-Me.

-Does she?

-Yes.

And also, I think she picked up

a few tips from Karren along the way, as well.

-Definitely.

-Sarah, your husband's up there as well, I think?

-Yes.

I think Michael's up there as well.

Sarah was obviously very emotional in that final,

she says she's given up a lot at home to go through this process.

Were you secretly hoping she'd get chucked out

a little bit earlier so she'd come home?

I don't know, I was enjoying the time off as well, to be honest.

Does she have another side? Spill the beans.

-What's she like at home?

-She's really funny.

It's kind of funny seeing her on the telly, everyone's going,

"You're so serious, why are you so serious?"

-But at home, she's a completely different character.

-Is that true?

I do have a fun side. I think it's just it's a business show

and I'm focused, but, honestly,

I am not totally personality-less, I hope.

I don't think you came across as personality-less,

but very serious and focused.

Even my father was saying, "In every shot, you're like this,"

-this serious face.

-Were you trying to hide that fun side a bit?

That's cos the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

I think even, yeah, my family watching were like,

"Gosh, you are serious," but I think it's just that I was focused

and I desperately wanted to win and make my mark,

so, yeah, on camera that comes across a certain way.

Did you never, when the cameras weren't there, were you like, right,

put a clown hat on, squirty water flower,

dancing on the roof, "This is the real me!"?

-What goes on in the house, stays in the house.

-Right!

Well, it's the end of the series, so, throughout this evening,

we will be presenting a host of awards to candidates

who have stood out in a particular field.

The You're Fired Excellence in Business Awards,

or YFEBAs for short.

This first award recognises that, under pressure,

we can all look like a bit of a numpty.

Yes, this YFEBA is for silliest question.

Let's have a look at who's made the short list.

And the nominees are...

Harrison, for his hilarious historical howler.

-We're in a Norman setting.

-Medieval?

They didn't even have cars then, did they?

Chris, for his "I think I'll tempt fate... Oh, dear."

-Do you not feel I performed well in the first four tasks?

-No.

Joanna, for her harebrained horticultural humdinger.

Something to do with the setting, fir trees.

-Is there such a thing as a tree with fur?

-It's F-I-R.

And Charles, for asking the wrong question

to the wrong person at the wrong time.

Is it possible just to have a breakdown of the girls,

-what did they sell, versus...

-It's nothing to do with you.

A hell of a lot more than you, anyway.

And the winner is Charles, ladies and gentlemen.

Charles, there you go.

Congratulations. Let me shake that hand.

Silliest question. What were you thinking?

Um, I was thinking that if we knew where they'd won,

we'd better be able to pick where we'd failed. That was it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the moment.

Lord Sugar, now that we've got you here,

what was the breakdown of the ladies figures?

-I can't remember.

-A hell of a lot more than you!

A hell of a lot more than you, mate!

Thanks very much, Charles, ladies and gentlemen.

Lord Sugar, what would you do without your trusted confidants,

-Karren and Claude?

-It would be impossible, really, in truth,

for me to know what to ask the candidates

when we're in the boardroom, because they are,

as I've always said, my eyes and ears. They don't miss a trick.

And they've been at it for so long...

Take that in the nicest way.

I was just thinking that.

-Um...

-LAUGHTER

No, it's not possible. It's a team, you see.

We are a team, so, sometimes in the boardroom,

when things get a bit heated, Karren steps in and Claude steps in

and just shuts them down, when there's a turmoil going on

because they know what went on out in the street

and all that stuff and then of course they can jump up

suddenly and say, "No, no, no, that's not exactly what went on.

"Would you mind clarifying that for Lord Sugar a little bit?"

A very polite way of doing it,

rather than saying, "You bloody liar."

But, no, it wouldn't be possible.

It would not be possible without these two.

How hard is it sometimes, Karren, not to jump in,

-when chaos is unfolding.

-Not that hard.

No, I mean, there is a tendency to go, "Oh, come on!"

But the truth is that Alan is not looking to offer an investment

to Claude and I, so he doesn't want us to help them.

He doesn't want them to fail but he doesn't want us to help them.

He wants to see how they cope on their own.

We see you at interview stage, Claude, and, Karren, we have

a little running joke that Karren is harsh but fair

but this year at the interview stage, I thought

you forgot the fair bit. You were pretty harsh.

I think on the contrary, I think I've been misunderstood.

My sole objective is to try and find a business plan

and the individual and make sure that those are the ones

that go through to the next round,

so, for me, I'm only caring

about making sure that the business plan hangs together

and the person is investable. That's it.

So if by chance I happen to be a bit direct with some of the people,

that is very unfortunate, but, truthfully,

my only objective is to actually

find the best candidate to go through.

OK. How would you cope, Russell, with Karren and Claude?

Following your every move.

I can imagine it being a stand-up gig

and just the light bouncing off the stage and seeing Claude

-sat there passively watching a stand-up set...

-Making notes!

The joke had no internal structure.

It was an incoherent narrative

and I wouldn't laugh even if Lord Sugar paid me.

Well, The Apprentice wouldn't be The Apprentice without Karren

and Claude hiding in hedges and leaping out of cupboards.

This year, they've gone to ever greater lengths to keep

their beady eyes on our candidates and dob them in to Lord Sugar.

MUSIC: Simply The Best by Tina Turner

I have eyes on the back of my head.

Nothing will escape my attention.

It's not rocket science, this.

Poo, bag, put the two together and clean-up.

A complete and colossal waste of precious time.

Just monogram the thing and get out and get on.

That's a good bit of business, rather tasty.

Toe curling.

-She certainly has style.

-Absolutely.

And so do I.

APPLAUSE

Sarah, to give you an idea of what partnership with Lord Sugar

is going to be like, we've got some previous winners out there.

Can we talk to Tom? Tom Pellereau? 2011.

And Alana is there. Alana, 2016, hello.

-Hi.

-Hi, there.

Tom, you set up a business with Lord Sugar after winning in 2011.

What one piece of advice would you give to Sarah?

Well, this is rather difficult because he's here,

but absolutely listen to what he says

because he is a business genius and, with his help,

my business should reach 4,000,000 turnover this year

and for a little inventor like me, that's just insane

and that's all because of listening to him.

Alana, you were sat where Sarah is sitting this time last year,

in the winner's chair. What's the last 12 months been like for you?

It's been incredible. Congratulations, Sarah, by the way.

-Thank you.

-You're going to have the most incredible year.

I've gone from being a baker in my own kitchen, just me

and my partner baking cakes and going out at the weekend,

to now we've got 40 ambassadors across the country

going out and selling our cakes.

And Lord Sugar set me the task to get 200 by the end of next year,

so it's been, it's just been an incredible year.

It's been a long process, Sarah. 12 weeks.

What's been the highlight for you? Apart from winning.

Yeah, it has to be, obviously, winning,

but I think in terms of a task, Wembley. I love football.

I loved walking out into the Royal Box and doing that task and it

was just really fun and to win on a fun task,

that was just... Yeah, I loved it.

I loved every minute.

-OK. Huge congratulations...

-Thank you so much.

..once again, from all of us. Let's have a look at your highlights.

Welcome and thank you so much.

Big smiles. Let's do this.

-Do I look catwalk?

-Go on, Sarah. Sarah is the best.

She's professional, she's straightforward, she's lovely.

She is just an all-round perfect lady.

We sold them all!

Fantastic. Thank you so much.

Just zip it or be constructive.

She's really young at heart and really cool

but the main thing I would say

about Sarah is she is really caring.

Let's keep talking and let's win this.

I'm back!

Sarah is unbelievable.

She is driven, focused and absolutely hilarious.

The nicest woman I've met in years.

Sugar is going sweet.

Well, Sarah, not only do you get Lord Sugar's £250,000 investment,

but - and a lot of people see this as the main prize, really -

cos we've got a little gift for you. No offence, the money is good,

but you may consider this your main prize.

So, this is to inspire... AUDIENCE GASPS

..your forthcoming... Wow, I've never brought

anything up from this table that's got a wow before.

This is a You're Fired box of sweets, as you can tell.

They are all individually tailored to you.

We've got some Elizabeth Gobstoppers. As you can see.

Karren's Lemon Sours.

It says, "Suck on these and stand in front of a mirror in amazement

"as your face magically recreates

"the disappointed face Karren pulls in the boardroom."

We've got Claude's Chocolate Mice, "Hard on the outside,

"but inside as soft and gentle as a little mouse."

Isn't that right, Claude?

Yeah.

I've always found that.

Lord Sugar, you've got your own range here.

-What have I got? Load of balls?

-Yours... Load of balls.

Lord Sugar's chocolate footballs.

Lots of different teams in there.

But Spurs are always on the top.

Oh, yes.

Sarah, I hope you enjoy them,

I hope it inspires your confectionery ranges in the future.

I'm going to put them down here.

Ladies and gentlemen, Lord Sugar's new business partner

and one of the winners of The Apprentice 2017, Sarah Lynn!

CHEERING

It's time for another award.

The next YFEBA recognises that the boardroom can be a daunting place.

A gladiatorial arena where egos can be battered

and dodgy decisions decimated.

And sometimes, only a conversational knockout will do.

So this award is for best boardroom shutdown.

Let's have a look at the contenders.

And the nominees are...

Karren, for her no-star review of Bushra's banter.

So I think they felt that they had to be sort of funny and engaged.

But it wasn't funny.

And it certainly wasn't engaging.

Ross, for trying to fight fire with fire and almost getting fired.

-Had you run out of time, then?,

-Well, this is...

-Who went to the designer?

-I'm trying to actually explain, preferably -

not to be rude - but uninterrupted would be really helpful

just so I can get something across...

Claude, for disappointing Anisa with this dismissive dis.

That was all down to me and my photography skills, I had to...

Sarah would have done it.

There was no great skill.

And Lord Sugar, for bursting Sajan's boardroom bubble.

I'm here to be mentored.

I'm still building my confidence

and I've still got a long way to go in this process.

I'll decide whether you've got a long way to go in this process.

And the winner is...

Ooh, I wonder who it could be, Lord Sugar?

Obviously, it's you.

-Really?

-Lord Sugar, ladies and gentlemen. Of course it is.

-Oh!

Who else could I give an award to with you sitting there?

-Thank you so much.

-My pleasure.

-Thank you very much.

-What a surprise.

-Yeah.

I'll decide if I take this award or not.

LAUGHTER

-Have you recovered, Sajan?

-No, still hurting, but we'll get there.

LAUGHTER

Well, I still can't quite believe it, but it's a unique Apprentice

this year, as Lord Sugar chose not one, but two business partners.

Before we meet the second winner,

let's remind ourselves of that historic moment.

This particular year...

..I'm going to double my investment

and I'm going to start a business with both of you.

-Thank you.

-I won't let you down, Lord Sugar.

It means the world to me.

Ladies and gentlemen, James White. CHEERING

James, congratulations.

Thank you very much.

An historic Apprentice first. Two winners.

-How do you feel?

-Can't believe it.

-Can you?

-No!

-No, worked hard. Worked hard.

-Yeah.

Like Sarah, you did seem very confident, very determined,

very focused. Did you think you were going to win?

I couldn't call it between me and Sarah,

so I could see why we both ended up with the investment, but absolutely.

I went in there to win and come out on top.

-Well, joint top!

-This clearly meant a lot to you, as well.

-Yeah.

-You spoke about your dad and how much it meant to you...

Yeah. Absolutely.

You know, I would say he is one of my biggest motivations

and the reason why I'm so determined as, I would say,

a young person.

But, yeah, hopefully he is proud.

I'm proud, son.

Can't be any prouder.

Good man, good man.

Lord Sugar, you have touched briefly on why...

what you saw in James, why you wanted him as a business partner,

but in a bit more detail, what was it about him and his business?

He knows his business inside out.

That's what I think we found.

And of course, I have a business partner in Ricky Martin,

who's in the recruitment industry.

But what I have picked up from Ricky has given me

enough experience to know that he knew what he was talking about.

If you understand what I mean.

-Did you know that he didn't know anything about this?

-He fooled me.

And, yeah, he is going

to specialise in something called cyber-security which is

an up-and-coming industry now.

It's very important because we're hearing so much of this hacking

going on, it is a growing industry.

If I did have something on my computer that

I needed to remove, would you be able to help with that at all?

-I think...

-I was on tour and I downloaded something by accident!

LAUGHTER

-No, I've never...

-Yeah, at a small cost.

-KARREN:

-He keeps checking it's there every day.

Can you stop the Viagra... Can you stop the Viagra e-mails?

Claude, you shadowed James throughout the process.

Well, I found James to be somebody who is very serious, very committed

and I think in every single task, he demonstrated that he had the

ability to seize on the task, to do the negotiating, to do the selling.

And I think he was pretty impressive right from the start.

-Very serious... Are you very serious?

-Do I look really serious?

No, I am serious when it comes to work. But I've got the other side.

Seriously hot!

-All right, Russell!

-Were you trying to put forward a certain...?

Yeah, I came into this process to win it

and I wanted to take it seriously.

But, in the house, as Sarah said, behind closed doors we had some fun.

Not me and Sarah!

LAUGHTER

But, no, I've got a light-hearted side as well.

Yeah. James has been very capable and determined, Karren.

Is he the perfect candidate?

Well, there's a couple of things that stand out with James.

He is young, he's ambitious, he understands the business he's in,

he has a vision for the future, he's not afraid of hard work.

You hold yourself very well.

And I think those are all the things that Alan is looking for.

-Nice.

-I mean, they take every box, tick, tick, tick.

That's really nice to hear.

Well, Lord Sugar was obviously keen to recruit a recruiter,

so let's have a look at how the head honcho went about headhunting

the head hunter.

James, IT recruitment is a very crowded market.

So you need to prove to me that your new business can stand out.

So that would leave you three to do the digital billboards.

This is my baby, I need this to work.

As soon as I say action, you go.

Action! Hopefully, we can present him as a really credible brand.

Cut.

You'll have experts in that pitch who know recruitment.

-Bet your bottom dollar, they'll probably be an IT person.

-100%.

And they will say, we are a specialist, we do these functions.

Meeting Ricky was really helpful.

I need to focus more on cyber-security.

That's what he told me, so I'm going to take that away.

I'm here to unveil my new IT recruitment business.

First Tier Talent.

We want to be the best.

We want to stand out from the rest.

APPLAUSE

If he came to me tomorrow, I'd give him some business.

I don't think that you would find a better candidate to front

a company in my industry, an industry that you know works,

that you know is extremely profitable if you get it right.

James seemed to enjoy the pitch, Lord Sugar.

He had a bit of fun at the expense of the promotional video with

Charles, had a good laugh at the end of that.

He gave a very good account of himself in that pitch.

Yeah, yeah.

I can understand why he had a bit of fun with Charles running!

He won, he won the race, Charles.

-He did, he did win.

-This was the brand.

This was the brand that you and Joanna knocked up in ooh...24 hours!

-Tell us, were you panicking a bit?

-Yeah...

It was the final, it was taking you a long time to come up with

a brand and a strapline.

Yeah, we had a bit of a brain freeze.

We got stuck on a few ideas and... Well, Karren was there!

We couldn't think around them

and, yeah, this is what we come up with in the end.

Backed it and, what do you think? Do you like it?

Well, it's hard to get excited about IT recruitment,

isn't it, Russell? Do you find?

I actually do.

If you think about what major IT stories there have

been in the news that everyone in this room has read.

It's people's i-clouds being hacked,

their personal photos appearing on...

I mean, this is hot business at the moment.

It's just on the branding front,

you could have got more alliteration with "Top Tier Talent".

That's also the very top,

rather than the office junior who would be the first tier.

Yeah, yeah. That's the feedback we had.

But top tier would be a seamless...

Obviously you must have slept well, that night,

because unlike Sarah, she didn't sleep the whole night

and in the morning, changed the brand name!

-Yeah.

-So you must have a good kip that night.

Yeah, best one out of the whole series.

Karren, a lot was made of James has worked for a big company, got a

lot of clout, you pick up the phone, people answer it very quickly.

He's gone out on his own now.

-How different is that?

-Well, hugely different.

When you have the big support, the marketing budget,

the huge company behind you, that helps.

But James has something even better now.

He has Alan.

And Alan will open those doors, he will push him forward,

he will help him with the branding.

All the background stuff that you have to do when you set up a

small business, you are not only the finance director,

but you're also the tea lady. You're cleaning the office at night.

Alan will have all that infrastructure taken

care of for him so all he has to concentrate on is the sales.

And he has something unique when he says,

my business partner is Lord Sugar.

-People will say, "Yes, I'll see you."

-Yes.

And I think that gives him a huge advantage.

-Yes.

-Much more so than you would ever have on your own.

You should have said that in the interviews, when everybody was

saying you haven't got any clout,

you should have said, "Yeah, but Lord Sugar will have my back.

"It'll be fine."

Claude, in the interviews, you picked James up on some...

I think you described them as wildly optimistic or fanciful

trading projections.

Presumably he has a better chance of hitting those targets now?

Well, I think that everyone who comes into the interviews,

they do tend to exaggerate their capabilities and try to show

that year one, they're going to make an enormous amount of profit.

I think they would be best advised to be a bit more sensible about it

because in year one of a typical start-up,

you're not expected to make a profit, so it doesn't really matter.

You've got to show the way... your path.

-So I think your numbers were outrageous...

-Yeah, yeah.

..and I'm hoping that you have dialled them down a bit.

Lord Sugar doesn't want to hear that!

Dial them up, dial up.

No, you've got to be realistic about these things.

You chose a very creative team

-and the stuff they came up with sort of reflects that.

-Yeah.

Let's have a look at the videos and billboards your team came up with.

You need really to be selecting things

-that relate to an IT industry.

-Could be like an IT ninja.

The campaign needs to stand out, we can't be too boring, either.

-It is not a pantomime.

-But we have to stand out.

What says credible more than a guy in a suit wearing...

King Charles. King Charles, I bow to you! Yeah.

-How are we looking? How are we looking?

-Nah.

You could be a lobster.

Why does he have to be a lobster?

The more random, you are going to stand out.

OK, Charles, leave it on, let's get a photograph.

-OK, fine, fine.

-Lovely.

I think that's enough of you dressed up like that.

Charles standing as a lobster...

It's like a drunken photo booth at a wedding!

Me and Charles shared a room and we had a bond like no other.

-You clearly got on really well.

-Yeah, yeah.

And I just picked him because I knew he would perform well

-being a lobster...

-LAUGHTER

But, no, I knew he would have my back.

I knew he would work hard, same as Elizabeth and Joanna.

And Anisa has a lot of creativity.

So I had a really good team.

Elizabeth, this was the final.

-Yes.

-All about James.

-Of course.

-And you still took over?

-Yes!

Lord Sugar, were you half expecting to see Elizabeth come down the...

Maybe, yeah.

With a lead around his neck.

Maybe.

Elizabeth would be a good face of the firewall cyber security you develop.

"Get out of the way!"

When you try and hack the computer,

"You are not coming into this device!"

We have got your family as well, James, in tonight.

-Where's your family? Dad?

-Yes, Dad.

Who have we got, we've got Dad, we've got brother Richard...

-Where's Dad? Dad's name is James?

-It's James, yes.

-Yes.

-James.

It's a great name, have to carry it on.

What's your brother's name, James?

-It's Stephen James.

-Is it?

I was going to ask where he gets his business acumen from.

We know where he gets his name from.

-Does he get his business acumen from you, James?

-Absolutely.

You said, I think, James, at one point you said

that your father once sold a coat for 50 grand.

He did, yeah.

What was Lord Sugar like as a customer?

I was going to sell it for 5,000, but I saw him coming

and charged him 50.

Where is brother, brother Richard James?

Has he always had the old catalogue model swagger going on?

Yeah, he has, actually.

Even as a child, just as he would walk into rooms he would

come in with that James smile that we see and just that persona

that James has that has served him so well on the show.

The only thing I would say about that is

don't ever try those curtains again.

I got that from you!

Well, earlier in the process,

we witnessed one of the most amusing mix-ups in Apprentice history

when our plucky candidates found themselves creating

an advert for a brand-new car.

James and his team decided to shoot the ad where no man has ever gone

to film a modern family car ad before.

Now, I think that it could be good to come to an old village,

like a Norman village.

-DRAMATIC MUSIC

-We're trying to get the family

out of the house in the morning. We've got to be in a family home.

And then have yourself driving out in a brand-new car...

James, I don't think this is an English village.

I think this is a...

..pretend village.

Oh, my God! Oh, good God!

It's not an English chocolate box village.

I think I was thinking of more of a...uh...small village.

APPLAUSE Happy memories?

-What was... What was... Why? Why, James? Why?

-Do you know what?

I have no idea what happened.

I just turned up and I was like, "OK, let's roll with this."

Karren, you were there, you were following James on that task.

Do you have any insight into how they ended up there?

They thought...

All they saw was the word "village," so they were thinking

chocolate box houses, lovely little streams, a cute little place.

But it had in big letters Norman village, and a picture

of exactly... of the man hanging.

You must love it, Lord Sugar,

when things like that happen. You must do.

What happens is I get a phone call from Karren, going,

"You are not going to believe this, you are not going to believe,

"you could not make this up, at the moment,

"where we are, with a new.. brand-new car

"from one of the major manufacturers in the world

"and we're stuck here with a load of geese."

Did you call Lord Sugar on a tin with an old wire?

-The car got attacked, actually, by a peacock.

-Did it?

Yeah, it got a dent in it. We had to take it back.

They weren't impressed.

It is time for another award.

Once again, our candidates have been on fine form in the talking

department, spoiling us with sterling speeches,

pithy putdowns, and memorable mumbles.

This next YFEBA is for quote of the series.

Let's take a look at the front-runners.

And the nominees are...

Elizabeth for a classic carnivorous confession.

I had my hands in that meat, and I mixed it.

Michaela's pithy review of Bushra's management skills.

-Well...

-She's a bellend.

Sinead, I mean Siobhan for her takedown of Gemma, I mean Elizabeth.

We're getting there now, aren't we, Sinead? Do you...

-It's not Sinead, it's Siobhan, yeah?

-I'm sorry, Siobhan.

-If you don't remember it, don't say it.

Or Harrison for managing to look a right Antwerp

despite being in Bruges.

If you look around, you can just see,

there's people everywhere, literally.

And the winner is...

Elizabeth!

For her meaty mix.

APPLAUSE

Elizabeth, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Well done. There is your YFEBA.

Quote of the series. How do you feel?

Aw, it's lovely. Thank you.

I'm not going to lie to you, quote of the series,

we could almost have picked pretty much anything you said.

I've got a big mouth, haven't I?

I've got lots of things come out of it at any given point.

You've been very entertaining. Elizabeth, ladies and gentlemen.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Woo.

All our lovely candidates are sitting up there.

This year's candidates. I thought I would do something just for you.

You haven't, of course, won Lord Sugar's investment

but that doesn't mean you can't have a nice Christmas.

If you reach under your seats, folks,

I have put a little Christmas present under there

for each of you. Don't unwrap them yet.

If you just take them out. I'm going to ask Russell to

head up there amongst you and supervise the unwrapping of the Christmas gifts.

Russell, would you like to pop up into the audience there?

It would be my pleasure. It's another Apprentice first.

Has anyone ever got out of their seat before and invaded the audience?

-I don't think so.

-Another first, ladies and gentlemen.

-Another first.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Russell Kane.

I feel a bit starstruck. Does everyone feel a bit starstruck seeing these guys?

Sitting next to them. Oh, my God, I can't even face you.

You can start unwrapping your presents now,

to see what you've all got.

Sorry, Harrison. It's just lads, though, innit? It's banter. Wahey!

LAUGHTER

Harrison, look at all these people, it's amazing, isn't it?

So, Andrew, what have you got there?

So, mine, surprisingly, is a beer, with vodka, gin, and whisky finish.

That is guaranteed to get you off your nut.

And this is of course because you were taking people on a beer

tour in cultural Bruges and was focused on them having a skinful.

-Yeah.

-How much is a skinful, just for viewers at home?

To about there. So the rest of it

is just alcohol. And you've just got, you know, just enough.

And how long was it after you were fired into your taxi

journey before you were off your nut in the taxi?

Euston station.

That's the type of stable investment you were

looking for, Lord Sugar.

There you go.

So, Harrison, while you're there, what have you been gifted?

-Let's have a little look.

-A tiny little box

with a tiny little thimble of yoghurt.

It's a thimble of yoghurt.

Now, I have actually been inspired since watching that

and I've experimented with a few others.

I had a pinhead of sour cream with my nachos the other day.

That will do, at least, what, a family full.

-So, I'm happy, yeah.

-I'd keep it away from Andrew,

he'll probably neck it, thinking it's a sambuca.

Harrison, ladies and gentlemen. Absolute legend.

Ah, there you are, Siobhan.

-Sinead.

-Sinead? Yes, stand up, please, Sinead.

So, of course, you famously over-ordered the wine in Wembley,

collapsing the whole economics of your task.

So, if you would like to talk us through your gift.

I think we've got one of the bottles that was left.

Siobhanignon blanc.

We've got a Siobhanignon blanc.

Now, how do you feel about the amount of wine you ordered on that task?

There won't be a dry night, that's what I'm about.

We had a sample of your wine, and after half the supply,

Harrison did actually sound like Frank Sinatra, it was amazing.

Thank you, Siobhan, ladies and gentlemen.

Anisa, up you get.

So, if you'd like to talk us through your gift.

My special gift is a Bruges factfinder with some pens,

which I'm thinking is how Charles could work out

where we're going to go and actually not get us lost this time.

And I can remember the facts. It would be great.

So, you are not a fan of facts, are you?

No. I've said it about a million times,

I don't like the facts.

1089 mean anything?

-No.

-The year it became capital of Flanders. Sit down, Anisa.

Now, who am I looking for?

I'm looking for Danny. Is Danny anywhere?

-Oh, sorry, mate. Stand up. Danny, how are you?

-I'm all right.

-You all right?

-I thought you were the nuts, I thought you went out early.

-I agree with that.

We're not going to do any jokes about how you went out early,

that would be cruel, so just talk us through which gift you got.

I've got a DVD box set of episode 2 to 13.

LAUGHTER

Merry Christmas, Danny. Bye.

Joanna, if I could just...

-I can't quite see you, sorry, mate.

-LAUGHTER

Aargh, my corneas!

Hello, Joanna, how are you?

-Good. Good, thank you.

-It's good to see you.

So, if you'd like to talk us through your gift.

Let's have a quick look at it. What's that?

It's a paper trophy.

Do you know why we have given Joanna a paper trophy?

It's because on paper, you were the strongest candidate.

Eight out of ten wins, ladies and gentlemen.

-Thank you.

-APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

It would've been nice to maybe have a voucher for a £250,000 investment.

That would have been a nice paper trophy.

But, yeah, amazing that they've both won. So, yeah.

You'll always be a winner to me, Joanna.

-Ah, thank you.

-Joanna, ladies and gentlemen.

Russell Kane, ladies and gentlemen. Give him a round of applause as he comes back to his seat.

Well, it is the final,

and everyone except me gets a highlights reel

so Lord Sugar, relax, sit back,

and enjoy our highlights of you in the Apprentice 2017.

Bring it!

You should've gone ker-ching! at that point.

When I came into this boardroom, I half expected you to be sitting in this chair.

They've kicked your arse, haven't they? That's for sure.

You look like you're constipated.

-Did you use that to help you out?

-Yes, I did.

Don't give up your dream. You still have the passion for it. Go for it.

Like a delivery from Ann Summers, actually. Very discreet.

-How'd you know that?

-Well...

I've been told, mate.

APPLAUSE

So, that was this year, Lord Sugar. Next year...

Next year, what are you looking for?

People often say, well, you know, how do you carry on doing it?

Well, because first of all,

I've got this passion for going into business with people.

I'm really enjoying this mentoring and making them successful.

It's kind of like an achievement for me, let alone the individual.

But we get a different bunch of characters every year. You know.

And it's the characters that make the programme.

What happens now for you and James?

Well, um, he's now got to put his words into practice, obviously.

Our contract between each other, our shareholders'

agreement between each other will be done very quickly,

I'll be injecting the money into the company immediately.

And it's up to him now to go out and start bringing in the revenue.

-You got to put his money where your mouth is.

-Yeah.

Let's hear from some previous Apprentice winners,

James, just to get a few tips from some previous winners up there for you.

We've got Ricky Martin, 2012.

Ricky, next to you Mark Wright, 2014 of course.

Ricky, you met up with James ahead of that final pitch,

you switched him on very much onto the cyber security.

Do you feel a responsibility to try and help him win?

Absolutely, you've got to think, he's a recruiter,

I'm a recruiter, what I do with the business is I get people jobs

and help them achieve their goals.

If I can't do that for James, my business isn't doing very well.

So, essentially, the pressure is on, but never let anyone down.

He's going to be your competition though.

-Good luck, though.

-JAMES:

-Friendly competition already.

-Mark, you won in 2014, of course.

-Yep.

You and Lord Sugar run a digital marketing agency.

What will the next few months be like immediately for James now?

The number one question I get asked is, is the £250,000 real?

And how often do you see Lord Sugar?

They are the two questions I always get asked.

And the answers are, the first week, Lord Sugar opens a bank account

and puts £250,000 into the account,

and straightaway he's on the phone, he's on the e-mail,

and it's really a baptism by fire, to be honest with you.

He will make you successful

and as long as you are prepared to work hard and listen to the mentors

and advisers Lord Sugar has put in place, you will be successful.

Is it scary as well as exciting?

It's bloody frightening, to be honest.

Yeah. I'm still scared. So, cheers, James.

Well, time for our final award.

Against the clock our candidates have had to think on their feet,

producing some fine, creative excuses.

So, let's see who our best blaggers are.

And the nominees are...

Elliot for his desperate attempt to explain why their robot has

mysteriously changed his name.

We say his name is Jeffrey, OK?

But his family name is Simon.

Jade for her fumbling, faltering fudge of a fashion show.

The last Dawn on...

The last Dawn on Mars collection, you're not going to be able to get

this anywhere else and have that really quality

based ingredient.

Bushra for bigging up her eyesight to blag

the role of official Apprentice photographer.

I haven't done any photography myself

but I'm pretty good with the eye.

And Charles for his stoic refusal to admit he's lost.

Charles, where are we going?

So, we are just on the other side of the lake that I want us

to be on, but it is absolutely fine, we are

still parallel to where I want to be.

And the winner is... Bushra.

APPLAUSE Come on down, Bushra.

Congratulations, Bushra. Congratulations.

A terrible pitch there for the photography contract.

But, amazingly, you won.

I know. After all, maybe I don't have bad eyes, you know.

I've got an award for it now.

Congratulations. Ladies and gentlemen, Bushra.

Now, every morning, just as day is dawning,

or sometimes much earlier,

the peace is shattered in the Apprentice house

and our candidates come crashing, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,

to the foot of the stairs.

Yes, that's right, it's all thanks to the Apprentice phone,

and this year, for the first time ever, it has its very own special tribute.

PHONE RINGS

# I sometimes see you pass outside my door. #

Hello?

LAUGHTER # Is it me you're looking for?

# I can see it... # HANGS UP

Boys, wake up.

# Hello. #

You were, um...

If you don't mind me saying, I couldn't help noticing, James,

-that you were often first down to the phone.

-Was I?

-Yeah.

-I don't remember. I don't remember ever.

It's strange. Never quite dressed, but you were often first...

I felt very sorry for you, mate.

Your embarrassing six-pack hanging out.

Anyway, your gift, we thought we'd get you something so you

never have to suffer the indignity of having to answer

-the phone in your boxer shorts again.

-OK.

We have got you a rather beautiful Apprentice 2017 winner's

dressing gown.

Specifically...

got Lord Sugar, Karren, and Claude on the back there.

Beautiful image.

Try that, mate. That's it.

Oh, and one more thing. Stay there, stay there.

We've made an especially large pocket.

This pocket has been adapted to allow your very own landline.

You can answer it if you like. There you go.

Hello.

What's that? James's car will be there in 20 minutes?

James, you've been a fantastic candidate.

Congratulations. James, ladies and gentlemen.

That's nearly it for this year's Apprentice.

If you think you have what it takes to be Lord Sugar's business

partner, applications are still open to take part in next year's series.

Head over to bbc.co.uk/apprentice for more details.

Thank you to my guests Russell Kane, Karren Brady, Claude Littner,

and, of course, Lord Sugar.

James, congratulations. Once again, let's have a look at your highlights.

Hello, there. How are you doing?

I think I've got a natural aura of infectiousness.

All about the money.

Get some bubbles on, boys.

James is genuinely a proper sound guy. Very funny.

I've had some right laughs with James.

HE LAUGHS

James is a very lovely guy with a very warm heart.

Down like that, and then you end up like that.

That's it. Freak it!

James and I, we have a great laugh together.

We, I don't know, we have this insane

connection, like brothers from another mother, quite literally.

THEY LAUGH

APPLAUSE

Ladies and gentlemen, Lord Sugar's new business partners

and Apprentice winners 2017, James White and Sarah Lynn.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Thank you, have a Merry Christmas, and good night. Cheers.