Lord Sugar jokes BBC will provide him with Zimmer frame after extending Apprentice deal
Apprentice star Lord Sugar has joked the BBC will provide him with an electronic Zimmer frame as part of his three-year contract to take the series up to his 82nd birthday.
Lord Sugar has joked the BBC will provide him with an electronic Zimmer frame as part of his Apprentice contract.
The 78-year-old businessman is gearing up to front a 20th series of the BBC show this week, but he has already penned a three-year deal with the corporation, and he has vowed to keep the show going for as long as the corporation want him.
He joked to The Sun newspaper: "Part of the contract is that the BBC’s got to provide me with an electronic Zimmer frame."
Lord Sugar added: "Three years will take me to about 82 by the time I’m finished. But I’ll carry on as long as the BBC want me to."
On the show, the business magnate axes contestants by pointing his finger in their direction and brutally declaring: "You're fired."
But Lord Sugar admitted he will "know" when the right time is to hang up his finger.
He added: "I will know personally when it’s time for me to hang up my finger.
"As the footballers say, they hang up their boots and I will hang up my finger.
"Right now, I’m happy about it."
While Lord Sugar is delighted The Apprentice has made it to 20 series, he admitted the latest season features one of the "most disastrous starts" in the show's history.
Task one sees the initial 20 candidates flown out to Hong Kong, where they are told to find and buy several local items.
But Lord Sugar was furious with the contestants, and branded the task a "missed opportunity".
He added: "Having spent a fortune in flying 20 people out to Hong Kong, and myself, it was very, very disappointing.
"You might have seen me show my displeasure in the boardroom there, mildly - but I can tell you, they got it in real Technicolor in real life.
"It’s not put in the edit, if you know what I mean. I was angry.
"It hurt because of the waste of money.
"It was just a shame. Picking a place like Hong Kong, and we kind of missed an opportunity."
