Lord Sugar has revealed he'd ordered The Apprentice bosses to make a change to the hit BBC show after being unhappy with the previous series.
The Apprentice star admitted he wasn't impressed with the brutal nature of the most recent interview episode, which is an infamous stage in the show's selection process.
Marnie Swindells, who went on to win this year's series, Rochelle Anthony, Dani Donovan, Victoria Goulbourne and Megan Horny were quizzed on their business plans in a host of savage interviews chaired by Lord Sugar's close advisors.
BBC viewers were left shocked by the brutal episode and hit out at Lord Sugar's aides including Claude Littner, Linda Plant, Mike Souter and Baroness Karren Brady for their behaviour during the interview process.
Lord Sugar has now admitted that he agreed with viewers' perception of the penultimate episode of the recent series.
In a recent interview, it was suggested to Lord Sugar that an employee wouldn’t have been spoken to in such a manner in real life.
"I agree. I think we need to tone that down a bit. I found it hard to watch," he replied in an interview with 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 Apprentice viewers, at the time, argued that the interview episode wasn't entertaining because of its harsh nature.
"I don’t think it’s entertaining. It used to be entertaining. All the previous boardroom [episode] 11s were entertaining. This one was very harsh. I agree with you," he added.
Lord Sugar confirmed he had spoken to his advisors and going forward the interview process will not be a repeat performance of the 17th series.
When the controversial episode aired in March, the show was flooded with complaints over "bullying".
The candidates' business plans were ripped apart by the experts and Megan, in particular, received a tough time with The Apprentice aide Karren.
She told the budding entrepreneur that her online sweet business was as "crazy as it comes" and had "no depth or substance".
When Megan thanked Karren for the interview, the businesswoman snapped back: "It's Baroness Brady to you, my friends call me Karren."
Hitting out at the advisors, one viewers tweeted: "#TheApprentice the interviewers appear to be bullying the finalists. They are not interviewing. This is the last time I watch the apprentice," while another wrote: "These interviews are actually just nasty. All for the cutting remarks and quips but some of this is just bullying."
At the time, a spokesperson for the series responded: “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."
