The Apprentice

The Apprentice star has explained his absence from last week’s episode that left him isolated from the other contestants.

Levi Hague, a contestant on The Apprentice, has shed light on his conspicuous absence from the latest episode of the show.

The BBC’s business competition, helmed by Lord Sugar, is in full swing, with a surprise double elimination in the opening episode and two more hopefuls shown the door since. The remaining contestants are vying for a hefty £250,000 investment into their business ventures.

This year’s line-up includes a star from Geordie Shore and an actress, but viewers noticed that former RAF Gunner Levi was missing from the recent episode.

Taking to social media, Levi clarified his absence, attributing it to a bout of severe food poisoning that led him to “lose more weight than an Ozempic user”.

He admitted he missed parts of the second episode and was still feeling under the weather during the third task, leaving him feeling “gutted”, reports Wales Online.

In a TikTok video, he recounted: “The night before the task, we got in pretty late, about 10 o’clock at night, couldn’t be bothered to cook, I was being lazy, and I had some spaghetti Bolognese, either that or some chicken, whatever.

“I got food poisoning, really bad. Diarrhoea and vomiting. The place where we went to do the boardroom, you have a little chill out room before, and I spewed up getting out the car.

“More or less spewed up when we got into the chill out room, so they isolated me straight away, so I wouldn’t spread it to any other contestants. So, yeah, that’s reason why I were down, it was diarrhoea and sickness.”

The contestant revealed he was taken out of the house and placed in hotel accommodation to recover separately from his fellow housemates, with production staff regularly monitoring his condition.

He continued: “I went down for about four or five days. Had to go on some hardcore antibiotics. Put it this way…. I lost more weight than an Ozempic user, and after I went toilet after 21 times in a day, I stopped counting after that.”

In an accompanying caption, he explained: “Right… let’s clear this up before the conspiracy theories start If you’re wondering why I wasn’t there for Task 3 – I was still man down with food poisoning.

“Given it was a food task, it probably wasn’t the best idea to have me anywhere near the public or a kitchen or away from a toilet So that’s the reason! Not to worry though… these extremely rosy cheeks and this northern accent will be back on your screens next week. P.S. Thank you for all the messages of support and concern genuinely appreciated.”

Levi has faced controversy over his inclusion in the programme, after his historic offensive social media posts were uncovered.

It was claimed he made discriminatory remarks towards Muslims and sexist comments about women. He later apologised for the posts, which have been deleted.

Production company Naked also admitted social media checks had “failed to flag the offensive posts” and that the process would be reviewed, adding: “Levi’s historical posts contain language which is unacceptable and Levi has been spoken to about this behaviour. He has apologised and insists that these posts do not reflect the man he is now.”

A BBC spokesperson said the views presented in the posts were “totally unacceptable” and the organisation was taking it “extremely seriously”.

“We were completely unaware that this contestant had made such abhorrent comments,” the BBC spokesperson said.

“We have asked the independent production company to fully review the social media checks undertaken given the process has clearly failed in this instance.”

The Apprentice continues on Thursday at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

The Apprentice has reportedly had to make a change to the format as producers wanted viewers to see more explosive scenes set in the boardroom on the hit BBC series

The Apprentice has reportedly had to make a major change amid BBC budget cuts. Lord Alan Sugar’s hit reality show, which has been on air for more than 20 years, sees its contestants all vying to the next big thing in business trying to get their hands on the grand prize of a £250,000 prize.

In the early years of the show, the winning contestant landed a six-figure job with the magnate himself, and throughout the series, they are treated to luxuries such as spa breaks and helicopter rides if they perform well in various tasks within the competition. However, it’s now thought that these sorts of prizes have been ditched from the format entirely.

Currently on air for its landmark 20th series, it’s thought that producers got rid of the prizes in order to fit more “fiery debates” into the running time. A source said: “The Apprentice is known for laying on lavish gifts for the winning team.”

READ MORE: BBC licence fee set to rise in just a matter of weeks as new cost revealedREAD MORE: The Apprentice’s Lord Sugar fires third candidate who ‘loved being on camera’

Speaking to The Sun, the source added: “Fans love to see them get to celebrate their victory by enjoying themselves. However the producers want the viewers to see more of the fiery boardroom debates this year.”

It comes amid news that the BBC licence fee is set to rise. . From April 1, it will go up to £180 as required by the 2022 Licence Fee Settlement, in line with inflation. The cost of an annual colour TV licence will rise by £5.50, which is the equivalent of 46p per month.

The Mirror has contacted the BBC for comment

Last week, Marcus Donkoh became the third contestant to be axed from the programme this year after failing to impress. The group he was heading up were tasked with creating a book aimed at four top six year olds, and pitched it, along with an audio version, to retailers. Lord Sugar didn’t pull any punches when the team were unable to provide enough product sales. The book, which had missing illustrations, was said to have had “no point” to the story.

Following his elimination, he said: “I feel as though, in the real business world, you have a lot of information – you do have to make quick decisions, but you have a time to think.

“It was really intense in the boardroom, I had to make a decision very quickly on who to bring back. So, changing my mind didn’t help, but I feel as though there were other candidates that performed a lot worse than I did, didn’t do what they were supposed to do, and I feel as though they deserved to get kicked off rather than myself.”

Despite Lord Sugar’s decision, the failed contestant says he wouldn’t change anything. “I think what I did was fine,” he confessed. “I am human. Humans can change their minds, and I feel as though I did get penalised for it, but no, I would not change what I did.”

The first episode saw a double elimination as event manager Georgina Newton was first to go and quickly followed by Nikki Jetha.

Just before the launch of the show’s latest series, Lord Alan explained that the longevity of the programme likely relied on the fact that a new audience are discovering it year on year.

He said: “I think the programme itself brings in a new audience every year, because 20 years ago, I had nine-year-olds watching it who are now 29. And the new generation of 16-year-olds are coming in and loving it. So the audience is growing. The audience is holding up, and that’s why the BBC keeps doing it.”

* The Apprentice continues on Thursday nights on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer.

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Alan Sugar’s iconic boardroom has seen some hugely talented business folk walk through his doors, whereas some The Apprentice hopefuls have been less successful…

Both outgoing candidates on The Apprentice insisted tonight Lord Sugar was wrong to fire them – with one businesswoman taking weeks to get over his decision.

To mark series 20 of The Apprentice, Lord Sugar sent his 20 candidates to Hong Kong, one of the world ’s most vibrant trading hubs, tasked with securing nine items at knock down prices. But both the male and female teams struggled with the unknown geography, tight deadlines and business basics.

After setting up the boardroom outside of London for the first time he sent Nikki Jetha and Georgina Newton packing, as their female team only bought two items, with half the team also almost two hours late to the finish line which led to further penalties.

Looking back, actress and events manager Georgina, 31, said: “I didn’t deserve to be fired. I think in the first episode, I probably contributed more than anybody on my team, and I think for the show, the person that contributes the least should go home. I thought I had a few more weeks, at least, left in me. I was devastated. I spent two weeks feeling sorry for myself but then I picked myself back up, put myself back together and then cracked on ready for the next thing. But I was really sad.”

However, it was not all bad news as Georgina got to travel long-haul for the first time in her life and insisted she had learned a great deal. She added: “I’ve been performing in theatre all of my life. I’ve always played a character, and I think for a lot of my life, I’ve hidden behind being somebody else, and being in this process, it’s the first time I’ve ever done anything just as Georgie. And I think what I realise the most from this is that I am enough just as I am. I can hold my own. I’m enough, and I think that’s a really lovely takeaway.”

Niki, who was project manager for the task and amongst those arriving late, insisted she should not have been fired because she led on the challenge for the unorganised female team. The 33-year-old said: “I did not get to show more of myself and what I’m capable of, but I definitely don’t feel defeated. You know, I stepped forward, I took a risk and I own the outcome.

“I was brave enough to stand up and take on a challenge during the first task. It was, you know, unfamiliar territory. Not knowing the process, let alone the country, and not having the internet and things like that. But I did the best I could do under the pressure, with limited information, and I’d rather be fired for stepping up than staying safe in the background. There’s a saying that ships are safest in the harbour, but that’s not what they’re built for.”

Laying into some of her teammates but refusing the name people she added: “There were some people who weren’t team players, and they didn’t contribute. You know, they spent more time complaining and moaning, as opposed to giving ideas and working out how we can push forward.”

Georgina now has a job selling items for brands on TikTok and hopes to land a job on a shopping channel whilst Niki is back at her old job and raising a family.

She concluded: “I’m doing exactly what I do best. I’m a mortgage advisor, I’m still advising my clients, growing my business and building my brand, but ultimately, I’m still a mum, family-focused, but I’m definitely not slowing down, and this is not the last you have seen of me.”

* The Apprentice continues on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer on Thursdays at 21.00.

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