The UK version of The Apprentice is infamous for three things.
High-pressure tasks, (mostly) incompetent candidates, and Lord Alan Sugar’s terrible jokes.
Indeed, while Lord Sugar’s gags are often as funny as queueing at the Post Office, his one-liners never fail to make the candidates and his aides, Tim Campbell and Baroness Karren Brady, fall about in gales of laughter like they’re watching the best Netflix comedy special ever made.
Well, after twenty years of the beloved BBC business show, one candidate has made some bold claims about Lord Sugar’s paltry pun work.
According to him, they’re not as improvised as Lord Sugar has claimed.
Get personalised updates on The Apprentice
Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro’s TV Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we’ll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you.
‘When he says all of his jokes, he’s got a piece of paper on the desk, and he crosses them off every time he says them,’ Dan Miller told The Sun.
Dan then explained that he didn’t get a lot of the billionaire’s jokes.
‘I mean, most of his jokes I didn’t get or didn’t find very funny,’ he continued.
‘Probably because of my Asperger’s, and on a few occasions, I had to ask him to repeat the jokes multiple times for me to understand what it was, and I think everyone in the boardroom found it quite funny.’
Lord Sugar has previously denied claims that his jokes are pre-written.
“Well, first of all, my jokes are on the spur of the moment,’ he told The Express in February 2024.
‘They do roll off my tongue. They just come out as we’re going along.’
Baroness Brady has backed up Lord Sugar’s alleged improvisational skills. In a 2025 interview with The Suns’ TVBiz column, she explained, His jokes are all off the cuff. Nothing is scripted.’
‘What you see actually happens. There’s no autocue, no retakes, no nothing.
‘None of us know what’s going to be said or come out in the boardroom until he starts asking the questions.’
Tim has also claimed that Lord Sugar is a funny guy, telling The Express that his humour is one of the reasons that The Apprentice boss connects with the TikTok generation.
Metro has approached the BBC and Lord Sugar for comment.
Dan is one of the 20(now 18) candidates hoping to get a £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar.
Dan Miller is the owner of a thriving student recruitment company and is looking to take his business to the next level with Lord Sugar’s investment.
The owner of a student recruitment company, Dan, started out at 17, but now he wants the money and Lord Sugar’s brain so he can take his business to the next level.
‘There is still a lot for me to learn, and getting mentored and supported by Lord Sugar would be incredible,’ he told the BBC.
‘The investment would be a life-changing amount of cash injected into my company for us to scale and grow into different markets and develop new products.’
The Apprentice continues on Thursday at 9pm on BBC One.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.