The Apprentice - Lapland (Part One) - 9:00 pm Monday, December 29 on BBC One London

Alan Sugar (Contributor)

Born: March 24, 1947 in London

Best Known For: Amstrad and The Apprentice.

Early-life: Alan Michael Sugar was born in Hackney, London, on March 24, 1947. He is the son of a tailor. After leaving school at the age of 16, Alan briefly worked as a civil service statistician, before deciding to go into business for himself. He started small, selling items such as lighters, aerials and intercoms out of a van he bought with £50 savings. Five years later, he founded the electronics company Amstrad; he sold his shares in the firm in 2007.

Career: Sugar undercut many of his competitors in the electrical industry and, by the 1980s, the company was doubling its stock value every year. Unfortunately, the next decade proved tougher, and Sugar subsequently branched out into communications, buying Betacom and Viglen. He also invested in Tottenham Hotspur FC but sold most of his shares in 2001. Sugar created Amsair, a fleet of jets run by his son Daniel. Sugar's business interests also include property speculation. In 2005, he began fronting the British version of US reality show The Apprentice. He has appeared on Room 101 and a celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and has had cameos in Doctor Who and a special episode of EastEnders for Children in Need.

Quote: "Once you decide to work for yourself, you never go back to working for somebody else."

Trivia: Sugar was knighted in 2000 for his services to business, and in 2009 he became Baron Sugar of Clapton. His niece is actress Rita Simons, who is best known for playing Roxy in EastEnders.

Karren Brady (Contributor)

Born: April 04, 1969 in London

Best Known For: Being Alan Sugar's assistant on The Apprentice.

Early-life: Karren Rita Brady was born in London on April 4, 1969 to Terry and Rita. She has an older brother, Darren. They were brought up near Tottenham Hotspur's ground. Karren's first break in business was as a trainee at the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. A year later, she joined the London Broadcasting Company (LBC) as an advertising executive and this is where she first came into contact with businessman David Sullivan. He went on to offer her a job with Sport Newspapers and she became one of his directors at the age of 20.

Career: In 1992, when Birmingham City FC went into receivership, Brady persuaded Sullivan to buy it and let her run it. She was Birmingham FC's managing director until 2009. A year later, Sullivan and David Gold bought West Ham United and appointed Brady vice-chairman of the club. She was responsible for negotiating the club's move from their Boleyn Ground to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, East London. Brady has also had a seat on the board of Sport England, been a non-executive director of Channel 4 and held a non-executive position with Mothercare. She raised her public profile in 2009 when she became Alan Sugar's new assistant on The Apprentice.

Quote: "Being at home and dedicating yourself to your family is a wonderful thing and should never be underestimated."

Trivia: Brady is a patron of the Life After Stroke Awards and an ambassador for Well Being for Women.

Mike Soutar (Contributor)

AJ Odudu (Contestant)

Born: February 12, 1988 in Blackburn

Best Known For: Co-presenting Big Brother's Bit on the Side.

Early-life: Born Onatejiro Odudu in Blackburn on February 12, 1988, her parents are from Nigeria and she has five brothers and two sisters. AJ graduated from Keele University with a degree in English and politics.

Career: Before going to university, Odudu was a BBC Blast reporter for Lancashire, covering local events, from culture and night life to comedy. In 2008, she became a roving reporter on BBC Switch's The 5:19 Show before going on to co-host the show with Tom Deacon. In 2011, Odudu was a contributor on E4 comedy discussion show Dirty Digest. Her big break came in 2013, when she began co-hosting Big Brother's Bit on the Side alongside Rylan Clark, and hosting Big Brother's Bit on the Psych. She left the show in November 2013. More recently, she has presented the 4Music programme Trending Live.

Quote: "I have always wanted to be a TV presenter and knew it would come one day, because I've always been determined."

Trivia: Odudu loves music and fashion.

Angela Scanlon (Contestant)

Born: December 29, 1983 in Ratoath, County Meath, Ireland

Best Known For: Co-presenting Robot Wars.

Early-life: Angela Marie Scanlon was born on December 29, 1983 in Ratoath, County Meath, Ireland. She went to school in Dunshaughlin, Meath before going to study business at Dublin Institute of Technology.

Career: Before moving into television, Scanlon worked as a stylist and journalist for the likes of Tatler, Grazia, Company and the Sunday Times Style magazine. She later worked on TV fashion shows Xpose and Off the Rails for RTE and weekend morning show Sunday Brunch for Channel 4. Her first documentary, Oi Ginger!, was broadcast in 2014 and was followed up by her series, Angela Scanlon: Full Frontal. In 2016, she joined The One Show as a reporter and also filled in as a presenter for Alex Jones. In the same year, Scanlon began co-hosting Robot Wars with Dara O Brian on BBC Two. She also presented TV series Angela Scanlon's Close Encounters! and documentary Trump's Unlikely Superfans on BBC Three. Since then, she has been presenting The One Show in the absence of Alex Jones.

Quote: "I think Dublin's a very special little place, there's a good heart and soul to it."

Trivia: She was a dancer with the O'Shea Irish Dance Company in 2001.

Charlie Hedges (Contestant)

Eddie Kadi (Contestant)

Jake Wood (Contestant)

Born: July 12, 1972 in London

Best Known For: Playing devious Max Branning in EastEnders.

Early-life: Jake Dylan Wood was born in Westminster on July 12, 1972. He displayed a love of acting as a child. He trained at The Anna Scher Theatre School and began landing roles while still in his teens.

Career: Wood spent several years as a jobbing actor, receiving decent reviews for a varied selection of roles. His first acting part was in the 1985 film Flesh & Blood. He has since made guest appearances in TV series such as May to December, Only Fools and Horses, Murder in Mind, Sean's Show, Inspector Morse, One Foot in the Grave, Red Dwarf, A Touch of Frost, The Bill, Sea of Souls and Doc Martin. He has also starred on the big screen in Vera Drake (2004) and The Illusionist (2006). He appeared in a few episodes of London's Burning as Kevin Medhurst's delinquent brother's friend and also appeared in Miss Marple mystery They Do It with Mirrors. In 2006, he joined EastEnders, playing tough guy and serial womaniser Max Branning. In 2014, he was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.

Quote: "I knew EastEnders would change my life in terms of the hours I worked and getting recognised, so I did consider it very carefully."

Trivia: He supports Arsenal.

JB Gill (Contestant)

Born: December 07, 1986 in Croydon

Best Known For: Being a member of boy band JLS.

Early-life: Jonathan Benjamin Gill was born in Croydon on December 7, 1986 to Cynthia and Keith. He has one brother, Neequaye. JB spent the first five years of his life in Antigua before returning to Croydon. He took a keen interest in music from a young age and by the time he was seven, he could play the recorder, piano, flute and guitar. He went on to attend the Centre for Young Musicians in London. He studied theology at King's College London before dropping out to pursue a music career.

Career: In 2006, he joined boy band UFO. In 2008, they auditioned for The X Factor but had to change their name because it was already being used by another group. They decided on JLS and they ended up reaching the final of the talent show, losing out to eventual winner Alexandra Burke. JLS went on to sign a record contract with Epic Records and released their debut album in November 2009. It was a huge success and went on to sell more than 1.4million copies. They released a further three albums and a greatest hits collection before deciding to call it a day. Their final concert was at the 02 arena in London on December 22, 2013. Away from JLS, Gill has competed on Celebrity MasterChef. In early 2015, he was a contestant on Channel 4 reality series The Jump.

Quote: "London has so much to offer, it is an incredible city. There is so much to learn and appreciate here."

Trivia: A promising rugby player, he was with the London Irish rugby club until he was 18.

Kadeena Cox (Contestant)

Matt Morsia (Contestant)

Rob Rinder (Contestant)

Sarah Hadland (Contestant)

Born: May 15, 1971 in London

Best Known For: Playing Stevie in Miranda.

Early-life: Sarah was born in London on May 15, 1971. She trained in dance from an early age and became involved with the Scamps youth group in Wilmslow. She went on to train at the Laine Theatre Arts College in Epsom and it wasn't long before she began starring in West End musicals such as Cats and Grease.

Career: Hadland began making her mark on TV in episodes of Bad Girls, Casualty, The Bill, Peep Show and Doctors. She landed bigger roles in Green Wing and Broken News. Since then, she has starred in Moving Wallpaper, That Mitchell and Webb Look, Horrible Histories, Waterloo Road, The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff and The Job Lot. On the big screen, she has starred in Confetti (2006), Magicians (2007) and Leap Year (2010). She reached a wider audience in 2009 when she began playing Stevie in BBC sitcom Miranda.

Quote: "You start to realise that everyone's got an inner Miranda or Stevie that they're struggling with; who feels that they don't fit in, or can't get it right with men."

Trivia: Hadland has been the voiceover artist for a number of commercials and voiced characters in a number of video games.

Shazia Mirza (Contestant)

Tom Skinner (Contestant)

Paul Broadbent (Executive producer)

Naomi Banat (Executive producer)

Dom Bird (Executive producer)

The Apprentice: Lapland (Part One)

9:00 pm - 10:00 pm, Monday, December 29 on BBC One London (1)

About this Broadcast

Lapland (Part One)
Season 1, Episode 1

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