Young Apprentice was a British reality television programme in which a group of twelve young people, aged 16 and 17, compete to win a £25,000 prize from the British business magnate Lord Sugar. The six-part series began on BBC One and BBC HD on 12 May 2010, concluding on 10 June of the same year, and also featured Nick Hewer and Karren Brady as Sugar's advisors. Karren Brady made her debut on Junior Apprentice, as it aired before she appeared on the adult version. The programme concluded with Sugar awarding the prize fund to 17-year-old Arjun Rajyagor, with Tim Ankers finishing in second place. The second series started in October 2011, and this time featured eight episodes and twelve contestants. The series was won by Zara Brownless, with James McCullagh as runner-up. The third series started on 1 November 2012, also with twelve contestants. The series concluded on 20 December, and was won by Ashleigh Porter-Exley, with Lucy Beauvallet as runner-up. Maria Doran and Patrick McDowell finished in joint third place. Originally proposed in March 2008 and confirmed in June 2009, Junior Apprentice received mostly positive reviews from critics. The programme is a spin-off from the series The Apprentice, which was in turn spawned from an American series of the same name, featuring the entrepreneur Donald Trump. Sugar's role under Gordon Brown's government sparked a debate over the BBC's political impartiality regulations in the run-up to the UK 2010 election, resulting in both Junior Apprentice and the sixth regular edition of The Apprentice being delayed.
