The Apprentice is back on our screens tonight, featuring fresh-faced contestants eager to win over business tycoon Lord Alan Sugar. There’s bound to be nerves all round for the hopefuls, but viewers may be wondering about what goes on behind the scenes to make the show so successful, and to make the candidates perform to the best of their ability.
Reece Donnelly, the Glasgow businessman and member of the 2023 cohort, didn’t make it to the final boardroom during his stint two series ago after mysteriously exiting mid-filming. Initially, it was rumoured producers removed the theatre school proprietor for excessive drinking during a Dubai-bound flight.
However, Reece has since claimed he departed due to “medical issues”. Reece has now revealed insider details about The Apprentice, discussing perks payment for participants, restrictions on certain items, and the effects of sleep and diet on the contenders’ experiences.
Speaking with Spin Genie to the Express, Reece said: “I was so thankful I was looked after. Obviously, I had to leave the show early and there was a bit of subsidisation for me. So I was okay.
“I still got a bit of mentorship at the show, so I still deal with one of the advisors, who’s amazing and a really good help to me, but everybody’s story is different.”
Reece, who is Founder and Managing Director of Theatre School of Scotland, has also went into detail about the item that is banned among contestants, and how going without the item was unexpectedly transformative.
“You’re not allowed your phone,” Reece explained. “The whole time on there, you don’t have your phone. No phone at all. So you can’t contact your family or anything when you’re there.
“I thought I was going to really struggle but it was the best thing I’ve ever done”.
Elaborating on how a digital detox impacted his approach to business, Reece went on: “I came back to my business in such a different light and because I never had the stress or the pressure of people asking me for anything.”
Reece also noted a change in his management style: “When I came back, I was such a different employer. It was like I’d learnt to let go.”
The TV personality, who has also been on Waterloo Road, spoke about the gruelling schedule of filming, saying: “I can’t emphasise… nothing will prepare you for how tired you are, and your brain starts to go like mashed potatoes.”
He humorously added the challenges of staying sharp under such conditions: “And then they suddenly go, why can you not think and you go, ‘well, I’ve not slept. I’ve been eating Haribo’s!'”
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