Lord Sugar’s most furious feuds with Apprentice stars including winner ‘cutting ties’

This month, will return to his tense boardroom for another series of , the hit reality TV series.

Alongside his trusted advisors, and Tim Campbell, they will meet 18 hopeful candidates competing to win Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment and mentorship.

Since its debut in 2005, the show has undergone a number of changes, including its prize.

It was initially a £100K a year job working for Lord Sugar, but in 2011, it changed to a £250K investment in their business plans with Lord Sugar becoming their business partners.

In addition to the annual change of candidates, as his aide in 2022. However, despite this, Lord Sugar’s unimpressed demeanour and tough advice have controversially remained the same, which occasionally brushes contestants the wrong way, reports .

Lewis Ellis – series 15

Partaking in the 2019 edition, Lewis made an impressive run to the final five and reached the interview stage before being let go just shy of the finale.

Following the conclusion of that series, Lord Sugar, now 77, publicly chastised Lewis for his “horrible” tattoos and in retaliation, Lewis hit back on social media posting a picture of himself along with the caption: “Back to rule #1 f*** what people think about you!

“Thank you everyone that took the time to show some support for my ‘horrific’ tattoos and pointing out no one has the right to judge you or your body,” to which Lord Sugar retorted: “Lewis your tattoos tell your story. What are you a Kindle. (sic)”.

“You have the right to do what you want to your body. I have the right of an opinion. I say they are horrible. When you’re 50 on the beach you’ll wear a T-shirt. You will be an embarrassment to your kids.”

Lewis concluded the spat by re-tweeting Lord Sugar’s comment, amusingly adding: “Okay boomer…”

Stella English – series 6.

Stella emerged victorious from The Apprentice in 2010 and was promptly employed by Lord Sugar. However, the employment relationship soured when Stella resigned from her post and subsequently sued Lord Sugar for constructive dismissal.

During the fiery legal battle in March 2013, Stella claimed that Lord Sugar declared he “didn’t give a s***” about her departure from his firm, and despite her allegations, the tribunal dismissed her claims as unfounded, chiding that her case “should never have been brought” and describing it as “ill-advised”.

Lord Sugar then lambasted her for what he viewed as a gambit for a “tidy” out-of-court settlement and concluded that she had severely miscalculated: “I’m afraid she underestimated me and her reputation is now in tatters.”

Following her defeat, Stella faced a legal counter-charge from Lord Sugar who sought £50,000 to cover his solicitors’ fees incurred during her unsuccessful constructive dismissal claim.

Stricken with financial worries, she told the tribunal, “I do not know how I am going to feed my kids, never mind the mortgages,” and as a result, the tribunal dismissed his counterclaim, deciding that the mother-of-two was not liable to return any of the legal costs.

Amy Anzel – series 16

Amy Anzel, a contestant from the 2022 series, was let go in week six after Lord Sugar criticised her for shirking the Project Manager role. She later described his decision as “completely unfair and unjustified”.

Lord Sugar took to Twitter with a comment: “Amy didn’t sell she was so slow. Slower than broadband Wi-Fi in Cornwall,” and in an interview with The Sun, Amy hit back at Lord Sugar, accusing him of “ageism” and being “anti-American.”

Following a formal complaint about Lord Sugar’s tweets, Amy was prohibited from appearing on the follow-up programme You’re Hired. A source informed the publication: “When Lord Sugar posted his tweets, she thought they were nasty, hurtful and insulting and told them so in an email.”

The source added: “She knew the final taping was happening last Wednesday but they ignored her phone calls and emails again. Then Amy got an email saying that invitations were issued at their discretion.”

Joseph Valente – series 15

In 2015, Joseph Valente secured a £250,000 investment from Lord Alan Sugar on series 11 of The Apprentice for his company ImpraGas.

However, just two years after winning the programme, the businessman bought back Lord Sugar’s 50% share in the company, a decision he wishes he never made.

, Joseph said he regrets “breaking up the partnership” with Lord Sugar “so early on” as he wished he had worked with the business mogul for longer.

Reflecting on the situation, he shared: “I was a young guy, and I wanted to take the business in a different direction than what he wanted so I stopped the partnership early.

“Looking back he would have been a great ally to have for the long term, not just the short term. I was very shortsighted at the time, I was thinking about the business which I was in rather than the long-term opportunities.”

When asked if there was a chance of reconnecting with Lord Sugar, Joseph admitted: “Probably, not.”