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The Apprentice
The Apprentice is the Rolls Royce of reality shows. In other words, it's shamelessly addictive viewing for those who think they're above Big Brother. But how's it all made? Who came up with the idea for the show? And how did Sir Alan Sugar get so bloody rich in the first place?
The original Apprentice
It was in 2004 that the world first tasted the pleasures of seeing smarmy business types examined, bollocked and fired by a rich megalomaniac. The show was the brainchild of one Mark Burnett, who served in the British Army in both Northern Ireland and the Falklands War before upping and moving to America. He worked as a t-shirt salesman and a nanny (true) before charming and talenting his way up the media ladder.
Angry Alan Sugar
When it came to making the UK version of The Apprentice, the producers didn't seek out a British equivalent of Donald Trump, a man so grand, glamorous and regal he'd make the Queen look like Nora Batty. No, they went to the other extreme and bagged the earthiest, most terrifying man this side of Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle. That man is Sir Alan "I'll nut you if you keep looking at me" Sugar.In the time-honoured tradition of all rich businessmen, Sir Alan left school at 16 and worked his way up literally from the street (where he sold TV aerials and other odds and sods from a van). He eventually founded Amstrad (that's short for Alan Michael Sugar Trading) and made his first fortune in the most boring way possible by manufacturing hi-fi turntable covers.
Things got a bit more exciting in the 80s, when Amstrad computers became a big hit, and he even became chairman of Tottenham Hotspur for a while. Amstrad also released its own games console, a rival to the Sega Megadrive called the GX4000, but it didn't sell particularly well on account of being rubbish.
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