The Apprentice’s Claude Littner was reportedly “accosted” by fans of the hit BBC business show after a clip of his interview with a contestant in 2018 went viral.
Claude’s sensational response to former contestant Camilla Ainsworth in the interview stage, who walked in and said “yoo-hoo”, left fans shouting the saying at him.
The former chief executive of Tottenham Hotspur was less than impressed by the greeting ahead of the interview, leaving former finalist Camilla visibly cringing.
Camilla has since reflected on the moment, which she said is now regularly sent her way online after the clip went viral on TikTok.
The Apprentice hopeful told the Metro she “stands by” her chipper “yoo-hoo” greeting as it was true to her “genuine self”.
She continued: “But poor Claude, he said that he couldn’t leave the house for ages. He was being accosted by people shouting ‘yoo hoo’, which is really funny.”
She added: “I did actually plan in my head to go in and say, ‘good afternoon, Claude,’ but then the nerves obviously got in the way and before you know it, it just came out of my mouth.
“I feel like I own it. I definitely don’t regret it because I think personality goes a long way. You’ve got to be authentic to yourself, and that’s me. So, I stand by the yoo hoo!”
This comes as the 72-year-old is set to make a highly-anticipated return to the BBC show this evening after he was forced to pull out as one of Lord Sugar's trusted aides.
The BBC competition returned to screens in January as Lord Alan Sugar put 16 new candidates through their paces for a chance to secure a £250,000 investment in their business.
Lord Sugar has been once again assisted by Baroness Karren Brady, 52, the vice-chairman of West Ham United - but former co-star Claude, 72, was forced to take a series break after a bike accident.
The business executive, who has appeared as an aide on the show since 2015, was subsequently replaced for this series by entrepreneur and winner of the first series Tim Campbell.
In tonight’s interview stage of the competition, the final four contestants Harpreet Kaur, Stephanie Affleck, Brittany Carter and Kathryn Burn will be grilled in the fight for the final.
On his upcoming appearance on BBC screens next week, Claude said: “The whole team went to so much trouble to have me back. I had written off this series, but it would seem Lord Sugar and the production company had other ideas!
“I’ve had so many messages on social media too from viewers saying they hope I’m coming back for the interviews and how much they miss my smiling, but obviously I’ve not been able to say anything until now.
“It was quite funny how it came about; Alan arrived at my house one day - although he phoned me almost daily - and he just said, ‘You will do the interviews, won’t you?’ and I replied, ‘Yes, of course’.
“The moment it came out of my mouth I was thinking, how on earth am I actually going to do it? The truth is, by the time it came to filming I was feeling better but the team had been so kind and gone to so much trouble so I could be involved.”
The Apprentice airs tonight at 9pm on BBC One.
