Lord Sugar will be 'remembered' for The Apprentice
The Apprentice host Lord Sugar feels that the BBC show will define his legacy as it returns to screens for a 20th series.
Lord Sugar says that he will be "remembered" for The Apprentice.
The 78-year-old businessman is back to host the 20th series of the BBC reality competition and admits that the show is likely to define his legacy despite his decades of experience in the business world.
Speaking to the BBC, Lord Sugar said: "Well, I mean, it's obviously something that I will remember forever, and I suppose I will be remembered for it forever.
"Although Donald Trump will tell you that he gave me the job (which he did not). But to be fair, he was the first one to do it in America.
"But, yeah, I might be remembered for it? I don't know. I mean, that is a great achievement, I guess, to have helped so many businesses and inspired so many young people to consider business."
Lord Sugar says it is "amazing" that The Apprentice has made it to a 20th series and believes that the continued interest of viewers is behind the programme's longevity.
The presenter, who will be joined once again by advisers Karren Brady and Tim Campbell when the show returns to screens later this month, said: "Well, it is an amazing milestone. When we started recording this series, you start to think to yourself, 'Wow, this is 20 years now.' What’s amazing, of course, is Tim Campbell is now one of my advisors, and he was the one that won it in the very first series, so it's full circle, in a great way."
Lord Sugar added: "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 former Tottenham Hotspur chairman admits that he could never have foreseen the show's success when the first series of The Apprentice aired back in 2005.
He said: "I never imagined back in series one that I’d still be here two decades later. I didn’t know what to expect, I recorded it and then didn’t even know what to expect when it was broadcast. It was only then that I realised that it was going to be successful."
