Claude Littner will not feature in the next series of The Apprentice as he is recovering from a cycling accident.
The businessman badly injured his leg following an accident riding an electric bike in April. The injury to his right leg was so bad that doctors considered amputation. Since the accident, he has had nine surgeries so far, and another is due on 19 July.
In his place, Lord Alan Sugar and Baroness Karren Brady are joined by former Apprentice winner Tim Campbell for the next series. The show is expected to return to BBC One early next year, after a break caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Littner, 72, has served as Lord Alan Sugar’s aide on the hit TV show since 2015 when Nick Hewer departed. His previous role on the programme was as one of the interviewers who give the show’s candidates a grilling.
Lord Sugar says he is in regular contact with his long time friend and business associate. He hopes to see him back in the boardroom “very soon”.
Speaking about the accident, Littner says he was “pottering along” near his home in north London when it happened. He thinks he must have hit a pothole, as the next thing he knew, he was on the floor. He was taken by ambulance to the trauma unit at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, where surgeons managed to save his leg.
Determined to return
Since the accident, Littner has lost two stone (12.7 kg) in weight. He says he has an “absolute determination” to fully recover, and to return to The Apprentice as soon as he can. “There’s no ifs and buts about it”.
Sadly viewers won’t see Claude out and about on tasks or in the boardroom in the upcoming run. He is disappointed to miss out on taking part in the latest series, but says he will “most definitely be glued to the action” as he watches from home.
Meanwhile, Littner’s replacement, Tim Campbell, winner of the first ever series of The Apprentice in 2005, is “excited” to fill in. Although he is “saddened” to hear about the horrific accident, and wishes “Claude the very best as he recovers”. Campbell “didn’t take the decision lightly”, because as a former participant he knows how much hard work goes into the show. Karen Brady will sit alongside him on the panel. She joined the show in 2009 after the departure of Margaret Mountford.
The Apprentice sees candidates compete against each other in a series of tasks in the hope that Lord Sugar will choose them to become his new business partner.
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