The Apprentice's Tim Campbell "nervous" to take over from Claude Littner
The Apprentice champion will be replacing Claude Littner as Lord Alan Sugar's aide in the upcoming sixteenth series of The Apprentice.
Additional reporting by Grace Henry.
This week will see the return of The Apprentice to our screens after a much-felt two year absence. Lord Alan Sugar will be welcoming The Apprentice 2022 line-up, and he will be joined by two trusty aides to assess the potential of their business ideas.
Though Baroness Karren Brady is set to return, Claude Littner will be sitting this one out after suffering an accident while riding an electric bike in London.
The BBC announced he would be replaced by The Apprentice's first ever winner, Tim Campbell. During a chat with RadioTimes.com and other press, the former contestant opened up about how he's feeling ahead of his return to the show.
"It's a great privilege to be back part of that amazing franchise, which has obviously been transformational in lots of the things that I've gone on to do subsequent to the show," the MBE recipient said, before admitting he was "nervous" when he was called in.
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He explained: "I have a way of channelling the nerves, which is all about – listen, we could be anywhere and the fact is, if my heart's beating really fast, that means I'm alive. So going into that scenario, where [Lord Sugar] calls you in and he says [you're the] new person taking over from Claude, you are nervous because you don't want to let him down.
"I’ve got a huge amount of respect for him and what he's done in terms of my life with my family and stuff. So it was more so about making sure that I did a good job rather than, 'Am I going to do something silly or is somebody gonna find something?' It was all about how I’m going to do the right thing by finding the right investor."
Tim also revealed the advise Claude gave him before joining the show.
"He said, 'Just be true to yourself because that is the only thing you can really do.' The beauty of the show is its authenticity to focus on candidates, not on us as advisors. Yes, you might be looking at what looks we’re going to give. How do our eyebrows go up and down? How many frown lines do we get on our foreheads? Fantastic, but the main focus of the show is that Lord Sugar is trying to invest in a business."
He added: "From my perspective, as a businessperson, I think that's a great thing that we have a television show which is still focused on the transformational element but more so about the power of UK business in general.
Though Tim admitted his "look" may not be as "stern as our Claude’s – he’s got a very stern look", he's still focused on "who's performing best" rather than his own fame.
"We're in it basically because we really respect Lord Sugar," he said. "That's why I took the opportunity. If it was anybody else, I probably wouldn't have done it."
We can't wait to see what he brings to the meeting table.
The Apprentice series 16 will begin on 6th January 2022 on BBC One at 9pm. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide.
