The twelfth series of British reality television series The Apprentice was broadcast in the UK on BBC One, from 6 October to 18 December 2016. Due to live coverage of the UK EU membership referendum in late spring, alongside live coverage of Euro 2016 and the 2016 Summer Olympics, the BBC postponed the series' broadcast until the middle of autumn to avoid schedule clashes.

It is the first series to date to air on Thursdays rather than on Wednesdays, as had been the norm until then. It is so far the only series to feature a candidate quitting the programme while a task is in progress. Alongside the standard twelve episodes, the series was preceded by the online mini-episode "Meet the Candidates" on 27 September, with two specials airing alongside the series – The Final Five on 13 December, and Why I Fired Them on 16 December.

Eighteen candidates took part, with Alana Spencer winning the series. Excluding the specials, the series averaged around 7.12 million viewers during its broadcast.

Series overview Applications for the twelfth series opened in December 2015, and filming took place from late spring to early summer 2016.

This series' team names were Titan and Nebula. For the second time in the programme's history, one task saw neither team win. This series also set the record for the highest number of candidates to be summoned back to the boardroom for the usual "bottom three" debrief. It also marks the first time in the show's history that a candidate left the process while a task was underway. Of those who took part, Alana Spencer is crowned winner, going on to use her prize money to start up the bakery business, Ridiculously Rich.

Candidates Candidate Background Age Result Alana Spencer Cake company owner 24 Winner Courtney Wood Novelty gift company owner 29 Runner-up Frances Bishop Children's clothing company owner 25 Fired after Interviews stage Jessica Cunningham Online fashion entrepreneur 29 Grainne McCoy Make-up studio owner 31 Trishna Thakrar Recruitment agent 28 Fired after tenth task Sofiane Khelfa Senior sales executive 32 Fired after ninth task Dillon St. Paul Art director 37 Paul Sullivan Marketing agency owner 38 Fired after eighth task Samuel Boateng Sales manager 27 Fired after seventh task Karthik Nagesan IT consultancy owner 33 Rebecca Jeffery Design & marketing agency owner 31 Fired after sixth task JD O'Brien Beachwear company owner 37 Fired after fifth task Mukai Noiri Digital marketing manager 36 Fired after fourth task Aleksandra King Business consultancy owner 38 Quit during fourth task Oliver Nohl-Oser Food distribution business owner 33 Fired after third task Natalie Hughes Hair and beauty salon owner 30 Fired after second task Michelle Niziol Property consultancy owner 35 Fired after first task

Performance chart Candidate Task Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Alana BR BR WIN IN IN IN BR IN LOSS IN IN HIRED Courtney IN LOSS IN IN IN WIN LOSS IN IN WIN IN RUNNER-UP Frances LOSS LOSS LOSS LOSS LOSS LOSS WIN BR IN BR FIRED Jessica LOSS LOSE IN IN LOSS LOSS IN BR IN IN FIRED Grainne LOSS LOSS LOSS LOSE IN IN LOSS IN BR LOSE FIRED Trishna LOSS LOSS IN IN IN LOSE IN LOSS WIN FIRED Sofiane IN LOSS IN WIN LOSS BR IN LOSS FIRED Dillon IN LOSS IN IN IN IN BR WIN FIRED Paul WIN LOSS BR LOSS BR LOSS IN FIRED Samuel IN LOSS IN IN WIN IN FIRED Karthik IN BR LOSS BR IN IN FIRED Rebecca BR LOSS LOSS LOSS BR FIRED JD IN BR IN IN FIRED Mukai IN LOSE BR FIRED Aleksandra LOSS LOSS LOSS LEFT Oliver IN LOSS FIRED Natalie LOSS FIRED Michelle FIRED

Key: The candidate won this series of The Apprentice. The candidate was the runner-up. The candidate won as project manager on their team, for this task. The candidate lost as project manager on their 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. The candidate left the process.

Episodes

Ratings Official episode viewing figures are from BARB.

Episodeno. Air date 7-day viewers(millions) 28-day viewers(millions) BBC Oneweekly ranking 1 6 October 2016 7.37 7.60 4 2 13 October 2016 7.40 7.59 5 3 20 October 2016 7.37 7.49 4 4 27 October 2016 7.65 7.83 4 5 3 November 2016 7.37 7.51 4 6 10 November 2016 7.26 7.41 6 7 17 November 2016 6.60 6.80 8 8 24 November 2016 6.40 6.59 10 9 1 December 2016 6.38 6.57 10 10 8 December 2016 6.89 7.02 4 11 15 December 2016 7.24 7.37 4 12 18 December 2016 7.45 7.62 3

References

External links Official site BBC