The ninth series of British reality television series The Apprentice was broadcast in the UK on BBC One, from 7 May to 17 July 2013. This series saw the format return to having a business task as the final task, rather than simply concluding the series at the Interview stage. Alongside the standard twelve episodes, with the first two aired on consecutive days, two specials were aired alongside this series – "The Final Five" on 8 July, and "Why I Fired Them" on 11 July.
Sixteen candidates took part in the ninth series, with Leah Totton becoming the overall winner. Excluding specials, the series averaged around 7.34 million viewers during its broadcast.
Series overview Applications for the ninth series opened in spring 2012, with the selection process of auditions, assessments and interviews held throughout the midsummer of that year, with filming beginning in October 2012. In contrast to series 7 and 8, this series returned to the original format, whereby the two finalists partook in a business venture as part of the final task, rather than the series concluding at the Interview stage. In addition, Sugar brought back the use of exotic filming locations, with the Great Recession coming to an end. Alongside these changes, Matthew Riley left the programme after two series as an interviewer, being succeeded by Claudine Collins.
This series' teams were named Evolve and Endeavour. Of those who took part, Leah Totton would become the eventual winner, going on to establishing cosmetic skin clinics with her investment, the first of which opened on 22 January 2014.
Candidates
Candidate Background Age Result Leah Totton Doctor 24Winner Luisa Zissman Retail Entrepreneur 25Runner-up Francesca MacDuff-Varley Dance & Entertainment Entrepreneur 32 Fired after Interviews stage Neil Clough Regional Manager – Soccer Centres 32 Jordan Poulton Business Analyst 26 Myles Mordaunt Marketing Agency Co-Founder 39 Fired after tenth task Alex Mills Company Director 22 Fired after ninth task Jason Leech Historian / Property Entrepreneur 29 Fired after eighth task Natalie Panayi Recruitment Manager 30 Fired after seventh task Kurt Wilson Health Drink Entrepreneur and Health & Safety Manager 26 Rebecca Slater Pharmaceutical Sales Rep. 35 Fired after sixth task Zeeshaan Shah CEO of Property Investment Company 27 Fired after fifth task Uzma Yakoob Entrepreneur & Make-Up Brand Owner 32 Fired after fourth task Sophie Lau Restaurateur 22 Fired after third task Tim Stillwell Mexican Food Entrepreneur 23 Fired after second task Jaz Ampaw-Farr Literacy & Education Company Director 41 Fired after first task
Performance chart Candidate Task Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Leah LOSS LOSS LOSS IN BR WIN LOSS IN BR IN IN HIRED Luisa LOSS LOSS LOSS WIN IN BR IN LOSE IN WIN IN RUNNER-UP Francesca LOSS BR LOSS IN IN LOSE IN BR IN IN FIRED Neil IN IN IN LOSE LOSS IN WIN LOSS WIN BR FIRED Jordan IN IN WIN IN IN LOSS IN WIN LOSS BR FIRED Myles IN IN IN IN WIN IN LOSS IN BR FIRED Alex IN IN IN LOSS LOSS IN BR IN FIRED Jason WIN IN IN IN IN LOSS IN FIRED Natalie LOSS LOSS LOSE LOSS BR IN FIRED Kurt IN WIN IN BR LOSS IN FIRED Rebecca LOSS BR LOSS IN IN FIRED Zeeshaan IN IN IN LOSS FIRED Uzma BR LOSS BR FIRED Sophie BR LOSS FIRED Tim IN FIRED Jaz FIRED
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.
Episodes
Controversy Jordan Poulton's application
As part of the programme's rules, candidates are not permitted to submit business plans for a company they do not own or co-own. However, upon applying, Jordan Poulton submitted a business plan that he was not an official director of, a fact picked up on by Claude Littner during the competition's Interview stage. Furthermore, Poulton was only prepared to yield a 15.39% equity stake to Lord Sugar, which is in direct contravention to the agreed-upon 50% partnership deal. Littner was so appalled by these revelations that he terminated the interview, after deeming Poulton a "parasite". Poulton later admitted on Twitter that he had been "naive" and apologised for "wasting everyone's time".
Ratings Official episode viewing figures are from BARB.
Episodeno. Airdate Viewers(millions) BBC Oneweekly ranking 1 7 May 2013 7.25 7 2 8 May 2013 6.64 8 3 15 May 2013 7.22 4 4 22 May 2013 7.69 2 5 28 May 2013 6.88 2 6 5 June 2013 7.29 2 7 12 June 2013 7.81 3 8 19 June 2013 7.48 4 9 26 June 2013 7.30 5 10 3 July 2013 7.53 5 11 10 July 2013 8.24 1 12 17 July 2013 6.74 2
Note: During the 2-hour final, the show was shared with The Apprentice: You're Hired, and as a result the figures are lower than usual. The first hour was the main show, followed directly by the corresponding episode of You're Hired.
Specials
Episode Airdate Viewers(millions) BBC Oneweekly ranking The Final Five 8 July 2013 3.39 29 Why I Fired Them 11 July 2013
References
External links