Fans of The Apprentice were left gobsmacked within moments of the new series airing, as Lord Alan Sugar unveiled an unprecedented shake-up to the show's format.
The hit TV contest, which pushes candidates to their limits in a bid to become Lord Sugar's next protege, returned on Thursday, January 30, with a new set of eager contestants aiming for victory. Yet, this time around, Lord Sugar had a surprise change in store.
Breaking away from the traditional gender-based team arrangement, Lord Sugar decided to blend the sexes into both teams. Outlining the shake-up, Lord Sugar declared: "Now I'm gonna mix things up from the get-go. Forget boys versus girls, the two back rows swap with each other!"
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The groundbreaking tweak sent viewers straight to social media platform X to express their shock and opinions. One person stated: "Switching up the teams already? I'm shook."
Another enthused: "Boys and girls mixed up will deffo be better to watch.", reports the Mirror.
A third commented: "They've mixed the teams this is unprecedented territory."
One individual applauded the update, saying: "Finally mixed the teams from the start, about time."
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Meanwhile, another surprised fan questioned: "Wow. Mixed teams already. Has it ever happened before? " However, not everyone was on board with the new layout, as one dubious fan remarked: "Why've they mixed up the teams already? Laughing at the men being terrible was the best part of the first few weeks."
Before the launch of series 19 on Thursday night, Lord Sugar declared he would implement a significant alteration to the teams' structure.
The 77-year-old business magnate, who has become synonymous with the UK version of the show since its inception in 2005, remarked: "We've split them into sexes in the past purely to help the audience get to know the candidates quickly, it just felt like an easy thing to do. But this year we decided to mix it up from the outset."
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He added, "I think it's quite a refreshing addition to the first episode and it's interesting to see how they handle being a mixed team because it's not what they necessarily expected from the start."
During the episode, contestants were whisked away to Austria to take charge of their own Alpine tours. Striving for peak profits, both teams set out to sell and deliver unforgettable experiences amidst glaciers and forests.
Despite underwhelming ticket sales initially, participants soon came to the stark realisation that difficult negotiations lay ahead in the boardroom as the results awaited scrutiny from Lord Sugar's advisors Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell, who had closely observed the teams during their Austrian ventures. Regrettably, Emma Rothwell found herself at the sharp end of the famed boardroom exchange, marking her exit as the first to leave the competition.
The Apprentice is on BBC One on Thursdays at 9pm and on BBC iPlayer