The Apprentice: Star Claims BBC Show Faked Firing Results for Drama

A contestant on The Apprentice has claimed that producers faked the results of the BBC show to increase the drama. James Max, one of the stars of the first series, alleged that the show lied to viewers about the order in which the candidates were fired. He made it to the penultimate episode of the 2005 series. Viewers saw him finish fourth, with three candidates remaining: Paul Torrisi, Saira Khan and the eventual winner, Tim Campbell. In the episode minutes after Max made his exit, Torrisi was fired, landing him in third place and leaving Khan and Campbell to battle it out in the final. However, Max claims that he actually finished third. He says that Torrisi was the first to go, but producers thought it would make more dramatic viewing if the order was switched. Torrisi had been a prominent character in the show and his exit speech was compelling. Speaking to The Telegraph, Max said he had “loved every minute of The Apprentice”, adding: “I’ve never had an experience like it since.” However, he said one aspect disappointed him. “In the show, as aired, Paul Torrisi came third. In reality, I came third. I have a letter to prove it. “They changed the order of the final to tell a ‘better story’. I remember receiving a call from one of the producers to that effect. “He said, ‘We hope you don’t mind’. Well, I did mind. Somebody thought that they needed to do this right at the end, when actually it wasn’t required because both of us were dispatched anyway.” When Max said his goodbyes in the boardroom, he was shown hugging Khan and shaking hands with Campbell. Torrisi, however, was only included in a cutaway shot. Torrisi was a combustible character in the first series, and his relationship with Khan was particularly fractious. Lord Sugar fired Torrisi after telling him that his “aggressive” behaviour had been noted by people on the show. Told that he should go away and contemplate why there had been complaints about his behaviour, Torrisi replied: “Well, I’ve got nothing better to do now, have I?” ‘Fired’ contestant launched TV career Max’s firing was far less dramatic and he exited with a polite “cheerio”. Lord Sugar and his advisers suspected that Max, who earned a six-figure salary in the City, had applied for The Apprentice only because he wanted fame. Max went on to launch a television and radio career, which included his own show on LBC and regular appearances on The Jeremy Vine Show. Max was fired in the interview episode, when the remaining candidates were grilled on their CV and business experience by Lord Sugar’s advisers. When Max sent in his CV to the programme, he listed “HKLP” as his major dislike. Asked on the show what this meant, he replied that it related to table manners and stood for “holds knife like pen”. He told Margaret Mountford, another of Lord Sugar’s advisers: “I was always taught to hold my cutlery in a certain way and it just brings me out in bristles when people don’t.” Lord Sugar did not see the funny side of Max’s remarks. Torrisi claimed that he turned down a post-show offer to work for one of Lord Sugar’s businesses and had instead sold his property portfolio for £4m. He presented one series of a TV show, Property Prophets, and continued to work in the property business. The Apprentice returns for its 20th series next week. The new series has already attracted controversy after it emerged that one of the candidates, Levi Hague, a HGV driver and former RAF gunner, had made derogatory posts on social media about Muslims, referred to women as “slags” and called the police “pigs”. The BBC branded the comments “abhorrent” and said it had asked the production company to tighten its vetting procedures. Hague, 33, from Doncaster, apologised for the “truly awful language”. He said the posts were made over a decade ago and “they are not a reflection of the values I uphold today”. Fremantle, the production company behind The Apprentice, has been contacted for comment.