Three Asians lead new ‘The Apprentice’ line-up

Three British Asians have been confirmed to appear in ‘The Apprentice’ line-up.

The popular reality show, returns in the first week of October, which will see Lord Sugar put sixteen candidates through their paces in a series of testing challenges as they compete to win a life-changing £250,000 investment for their business, in what remains the toughest interview process around.

The series kicks off with a bang, as Lord Sugar whisks the business hopefuls away to Cape Town, South Africa. For the 15th series, Lord Sugar sets the candidates one of the most challenging tasks ever; to create, set up and run bespoke tours on the outskirts of Cape Town. This takes the candidates out of their comfort zone from the get go, as the teams head off on Safari and Vineyard excursions.

Baroness Brady and Claude Littner return as Lord Sugar’s trusted advisors, who are once again on hand to scrutinise the candidate’s every move. After each task, the candidates must face Lord Sugar in the boardroom, where they will have to fight it out to avoid hearing the dreaded: “You’re fired.”

Over the past eight years, Lord Sugar has invested a staggering £2.25 million into nine fledgling businesses – and the bar is set high for this year’s candidates to impress as they fight for Lord Sugar’s investment.

Three Asian contestants join ‘The Apprentice’

Lubna Farhan
Age: 33
Occupation: Finance Manager
Lives: Luton

Lubna, a mother of two, reveals that good role models were lacking in her life so she decided to become her own. She enjoyed studying and focused on educating herself first, which gave her the confidence to pursue her dreams and aspirations. Now, she believes she “has the whole package”, book smarts and street smarts, and describes herself as “a dark horse”.

She says: “I came from a council estate… I have made myself into something good and I’m on my way to becoming something great”.

Shahin Hassan
Age: 36
Occupation: Chartered Engineer
Lives: Birmingham

Shahin credits Elon Musk as one of his role models because he “thinks outside the box”, a quality he prides himself in having and thinks that his imagination will make him stand out from the other candidates. He believes having a plan and being able to execute it well is key to success and admits he gets frustrated when people don’t follow plans through.

He says: “I love business more than sharks love blood… I’m ruthless in my pursuit of success.”

Iasha Masood
Age: 27
Occupation: Account Manager
Lives: Manchester

Iasha believes her “crazy, controversial, eccentric personality” will make her stand out, considering herself to be “the star that shines the brightest”. She says her “natural persona” will be enough to win the process. Iasha hopes that the other candidates will underestimate her, she aims to keep her “enemies” close to her; saying “I can read people just by looking at their body language, they won’t realise it until it’s too late – and checkmate”.

She says: “I’m one fierce businesswoman with both sass and class”

‘The Apprentice’ will air weekly on Wednesdays at 21:00 on BBC One, from Wednesday 2nd October, followed by ‘You’re Fired’ at 22:00 on BBC Two.