The Apprentice FIRST WATCH: Lord Alan Sugar returns with Karren Brady and Tim Campbell for the 18th series of the business tycoon show as contestants travel to Budapest to take on challenges

Lord Alan Sugar returns for the 18th season of his business tycoon show The Apprentice.

The 76-year-old entrepreneur is accompanied by businessman Karren Brady (54) and the winner of the first season of “The Apprentice” Tim Campbell (46).

All three business moguls look boardroom ready in a new image released ahead of the upcoming season.

Tim, who appeared on the BBC show in 2005, appeared in the last two series of the show after Claude Littner was injured in a cycling accident in 2021.

A total of 18 candidates will compete for a position with Lord Alan by taking part in challenges in locations ranging from London to the Scottish Highlands.

You’ll see them make their own kids’ cereal and create a virtual escape room.

The hopefuls will also hop across the English Channel to Jersey for classic discount shopping and travel to the Hungarian capital of Budapest for a tourism challenge.

In addition, the TV shopping channel task will be discussed again in the new series.

40-year-old comedian and actor Tom Allen is making his return as host of spin-off show The Apprentice: You’re Fired, which airs weekly on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

Tom will join key industry players, celebrities and fans of the show to analyze the episode and discuss the contestants’ progress.

Goat gym owner Marnie Swindells was hired by Lord Alan at the end of series 17 after an all-female final.

Lawyer and gold medal winning boxer Marnie wooed Rochelle Anthony for Lord Sugar’s investment and the opportunity to do business with him.

Marnie, owner of the community-based Bronx boxing gym, said of her win, “What an incredible opportunity and moment for a girl like me to come to a place like this and become Lord Sugar’s business partner.”

On air: The 40-year-old comedian and actor Tom Allen is making his comeback as host of the spin-off program The Apprentice: You’re Fired (pictured last week).

End of an era: Apprentice winner Harpreet Kaur has split from Lord Sugar just 18 months after he invested £250,000 in her dessert business. Oh so Yum!

READ MORE: Where are the Apprentice winners now?

It comes after 2022 winner Harpreet Kaur became the latest entrepreneur to cut ties with Lord Alan, announcing in August that she was selling her shares in bakery Oh So Yum! sell! would sell bought back from the program just 18 months after winning.

Now, in an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Harpreet, 32, has revealed exactly why she decided to split and offers insight into Lord Sugar’s true nature.

Speaking about Lord Sugar’s nature as a person, she confessed: “What you see is what you get. Business is business.”

She spoke about the delicate nature of businessmanship that viewers see so often on “The Apprentice,” explaining, “If you want to invest in your business, you have to take criticism.”

“You get a lot of feedback because the investor is testing you to see if you’re tough, and you can handle those questions, because if you can’t handle a little criticism in the boardroom, you have “You have no chance of getting in. ” in the real business world.

“He only asks the difficult questions that one has to deal with in reality.”

“I admitted that none of this is ever personal, he just wants to know more about you and your company.”

She added that while she doesn’t really speak to Lord Sugar anymore and that he’s a “very busy guy”, she still has a good relationship with his team.

“If I need anything in the future, it’s good to know we have a good relationship and I’m sure I can pick up the phone if needed,” she said of his advisors and team.

Harpreet’s win was controversial as Lord Sugar raised concerns about the “scalability” of her business and that she ran her business with her sister – whom Lord Sugar had not met.

Two of a kind: Harpreet’s victory last year was controversial, with Lord Sugar raising concerns that she ran her business with her sister Gurvinder (pictured), whom he has not met

As a result, her sister Gurvinder became the subject of internet memes during the show’s finale after viewers believed she would be fired from the company and replaced as a shareholder by Lord Sugar.

But Harpreet revealed that her sister Gurvinder’s involvement had no bearing on her decision to split with Lord Sugar and that she could continue to be a director and hold a stake in the company.

Discussing how the split came about, she told MailOnline that the decision was “completely amicable and mutual” but that she and her sister have more creative control over the company.

“The decision came after a council discussion,” she explains. “We are asked if we want to take ownership and buy back our shares, but there are no hard feelings at all.”