The Apprentice has treated fans to a first look at the hotly anticipated new series as a fresh batch of hopefuls jet off to Antigua for their first task.
The 17th series of the BBC reality show features 18 new candidates all competing to win a life-changing investment of £250,000 from Lord Alan Sugar.
The candidates are set to be thrown in at the deep end as the series kicks off with a trip to the Caribbean, where they will be tasked with creating and selling day trips to tourists on the island.
The first episode embraces the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, as Lord Sugar’s aides Baroness Karren Brady and Claude Littner accompany the candidates abroad.
In a first look clip at the episode exclusively for The Mirror, the candidates are seen on their first day in the lush tropics.
As the two gender-split groups do research ahead of their excursions, a group of the suited and booted boys are seen dancing out of step together to a kettledrum tune.
Elsewhere in the mid-afternoon Antiguan sun, a group of the girls are taking a boat trip on the clear blue sea waters.
Clad in bodycons and life jackets, they scream ‘Antigua baby!’ together before sitting down to take the chance to learn all about the island before the trips the following day.
The girls ask their local boat guide about what excites tourists the most and gives them a coy smile as she describes days out snorkelling, after which the bar opens and the alcohol flows freely.
They ask about popular dances they could replicate on their jam-packed excursion and she says ‘anything that moves the waistline’ goes down well, eliciting a delighted squeal from Lord Sugar’s hopefuls.
Their guide then shows them a saucy example, which the girls go on to replicate the following day to interesting effect in the eyes of watchful Claude.
Claude has returned to The Apprentice for a reduced role in the upcoming series amid medical issues following the first episode.
The Apprentice: You’re Fired host Tom Allen has confirmed that Claude was replaced by former winner Tim Campbell in the subsequent episodes, due to ‘medical issues’.
The 73-year-old was forced to bow out of the previous series following a horror bike accident, which saw doctors consider amputating his leg after the fall.
He was replaced by former winner Tim Campbell, before a brief return for the interview stage of the competition, which he will repeat in the upcoming series as he again returns to grill the contestants in the eleventh episode.
The Apprentice returns from Thursday January 5 on BBC One and iPlayer
