Series 17 of the British version of the show premiered on 5 January 2023 on BBC One.
Karren Brady and Tim Campbell returned as Lord Sugar's aides, the latter of whom joined the show on a permanent basis, after stepping in for Claude Littner in the previous series. Littner returned to the series in a "reduced role" and only appeared in two episodes. Eighteen candidates competed in the series, the highest number of candidates since the thirteenth series. The first trailer for the series was released on 20 December 2022. The candidates were revealed on 3 January 2023, two days before the show's premiere.
Candidates[]
| Candidate | Background | Age | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marnie Swindells | Court advocate | 28 | Winner |
| Rochelle Raye Anthony | Hair salon and academy owner | 35 | Runner-up |
| Megan Hornby | Sweet shop and café owner | 25 | Fired after interview stage |
| Dani Donovan | Hair salon owner | 25 | Fired after interview stage |
| Victoria Goulbourne | Online sweet business owner | 28 | Fired after interview stage |
| Simba Rwambiwa | Senior sales representative | 26 | Fired in the tenth task |
| Avi Sharma | City banker | 24 | Fired in the ninth task |
| Bradley Johnson | Construction company director | 28 | Fired in the ninth task |
| Mark Moseley | Pest control company owner | 39 | Fired in the eighth task |
| Sohail Chowdhary | Martial arts school owner | 27 | Fired in the seventh task |
| Joe Phillips | South Africa safari guide | 26 | Fired in the sixth task |
| Reece Donnelly | Theatre school owner | 25 | Withdrew during the sixth task |
| Shazia Hussain | Technology recruiter | 40 | Fired in the fifth task |
| Denisha Kaur Bharj | Financial controller | 29 | Fired in the fourth task |
| Gregory Ebbs | Online antiques marketplace owner | 26 | Fired in the third task |
| Kevin D'Arcy | Accountant | 32 | Fired in the second task |
| Shannon Martin | Bridal boutique owner | 34 | Withdrew during the second task |
| Emma Browne | Senior account executive | 26 | Fired in the first task |
Performance Chart[]
| Task Number | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Marnie | BR | IN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | BR | IN | BR | IN | IN | HIRED |
| Rochelle | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | LOSE | IN | IN | BR | IN | IN | RUNNER-UP |
| Megan | IN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | LOSE | FIRED | |
| Dani | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | WIN | BR | WIN | BR | FIRED | |
| Victoria | LOSE | IN | IN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | BR | IN | WIN | FIRED | |
| Simba | IN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | BR | IN | IN | IN | FIRED | ||
| Avi | IN | BR | WIN | IN | BR | IN | IN | WIN | FIRED | |||
| Bradley | IN | LOSE | IN | IN | LOSE | IN | BR | IN | FIRED | |||
| Mark | IN | IN | IN | BR | IN | IN | IN | FIRED | ||||
| Sohail | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | FIRED | |||||
| Joseph | WIN | IN | IN | IN | IN | FIRED | ||||||
| Reece | IN | IN | LOSE | BR | IN | LEFT | ||||||
| Shazia | IN | IN | IN | IN | FIRED | |||||||
| Denisha | IN | IN | BR | FIRED | ||||||||
| Gregory | IN | IN | FIRED | |||||||||
| Kevin | IN | FIRED | ||||||||||
| Shannon | IN | LEFT | ||||||||||
| Emma | FIRED | |||||||||||
Episodes[]
Week 1: Antigua Tourism[]
- Original Air Date: 5 January 2023
- Men’s Team: Joe (Project Manager), Avi, Bradley, Gregory, Kevin, Mark, Reece, Simba, Sohail
- Women’s Team: Victoria (Project Manager), Dani, Denisha, Marnie, Megan, Rochelle, Shannon, Shazia
- Task: Run bespoke tours on the Caribbean island of Antigua.
- Task Review: The men choose to run a historical and cultural tour of the island, selling out the tour, offering a high-quality tour and making good commission money despite some issues with pricing and negotiations. Meanwhile, the women offer a catamaran experience yet struggle to find customers due to poor location and team arguments.
- Result: The women made total sales of $487.50, whilst the men made total sales of $989.
- Winner: Men’s Team by $501.50
- Reward: A drinks reception at the candidates' house.
- Brought into the boardroom: Victoria, Emma and Marnie
- Fired: Emma - For her lack of co-operation with the rest of the team, her constant disruption and her failure to sell any tickets.
- You're Fired Panel: Harpreet Kaur, Karren Brady, Matt Edmondson
- Notes:
- Like the first episode of the previous series, Emma’s “walk of shame” scene was not shown; the boardroom cuts straight to her taxi interview.
Week 2: Bao Buns[]
- Original Air Date: 12 January 2023
- Men’s Team: Bradley (Project Manager), Avi, Gregory, Joe, Kevin, Mark, Reece, Simba, Sohail
- Women’s Team: Megan (Project Manager), Dani, Denisha, Marnie, Rochelle, Shannon, Shazia, Victoria
- Task: Manufacturing savoury bao buns to sell to the public and a bespoke sweet bun and to a corporate client. Most sales made, wins.
- Task Review: The women sell fish savoury buns to the public, and a chocolate meringue sweet one to their corporate client, along with upselling garnishes with their savoury buns, achieving good sales of the former despite issues with ordering ingredients, and receiving a lower price for their corporate order. Meanwhile, the men sell chicken buns to the public, and created a fruit and marshmallow sweet bun for their corporate client, but suffered issues in manufacturing, not selling all their stock, and a failure to upsell the garnishes along with a questionable pricing policy.
- Result: The men made total profit of £599.35, whilst the women made total profit of £754.60.
- Winner: Women’s Team by £155.25
- Reward: A luxury Chinese meal in Mayfair.
- Left (before the result): Shannon - Due to her concerns over the working environment within the process.
- Brought into the boardroom: Bradley, Avi and Kevin
- Fired: Kevin, with regret - For mismanaging his sub-team, and coming up with an un-thought-out pricing strategy for the savoury buns.
- You're Fired Panel: Bobby Seagull, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Tim Campbell
- Notes:
Week 3: Cartoons[]
- Original Air Date: 19 January 2023
- Affinity: Avi (Project Manager), Bradley, Dani, Mark, Marnie, Shazia, Sohail
- Apex: Reece (Project Manager), Denisha, Gregory, Joe, Megan, Rochelle, Simba, Victoria
- Task: Produce a new preschool cartoon aimed at two-to-four-year-olds to pitch to industry experts. Best concept chosen by experts, wins.
- Task Review: Affinity create a cartoon about a nervous giraffe called Yogita who uses her height to help in unique situations, but face concerns about the giraffe's name and design. Meanwhile, Apex produce a cartoon about the relationship between a boy called Femi and a girl called Faye who uses a wheelchair, but face questions over its message and incomplete design.
- Result: Ultimately, the experts pick Affinity's cartoon over Apex's.
- Winner: Affinity
- Reward: Trip to a ball pit cocktail bar.
- Brought into the boardroom: Reece, Denisha and Gregory
- Fired: Gregory, with regret - For making no contributions to the task, despite performing well previously.
- You're Fired Panel: Angellica Bell, Maurice Wheeler, Rosie Jones
- Notes:
Week 4: Brighton Discount Buying[]
- Original Air Date: 26 January 2023
- Affinity: Simba (Project Manager), Avi, Bradley, Dani, Joe, Rochelle, Shazia
- Apex: Denisha (Project Manager), Mark, Marnie, Megan, Reece, Sohail, Victoria
- Task: Purchase a set list of nine items in the city of Brighton, negotiating for low prices. Least amount spent, after addition of fines, wins.
- Task Review: Between incorrect identification of items, and misunderstandings in negotiations, Affinity correctly secure six items while Apex only secure five.
- Result: Affinity have spent £452.89, whilst Apex have spent £511.50.
- Winner: Affinity by £58.61.
- Reward: Exclusive performance by the cast of Only Fools & Horses.
- Brought into the boardroom: Denisha, Mark and Reece
- Fired: Denisha, with regret - For demonstrating poor logistics and leadership skills.
- You're Fired Panel: Cally Beaton, Kae Kurd, Kathryn Burn
- Notes:
Week 5: Electric Motorbike Advertising[]
- Original Air Date: 2 February 2023
- Affinity: Bradley (Project Manager), Avi, Dani, Joe, Rochelle, Shazia, Simba
- Apex: Marnie (Project Manager), Mark, Megan, Reece, Sohail, Victoria
- Task: Brand a new electric motorcycle - they must create a name, a logo, a television advertisement and a digital billboard, before pitching their ideas to industry experts. Best campaign, wins.
- Task Review: Affinity market their bike towards younger bikers, but the original ideas for the concept (Caf-E Rider) are ignored and they face criticism for their new brand name "Zip-Zap", logo, and campaign. Meanwhile, Apex market their bike towards owners of conventional petrol powered motorbikes, branding it "Soldier" but face issues with the content of their advert, their message and their logo.
- Result:
- Winner: Apex
- Reward: e-Kart racing at Gravity.
- Brought into the boardroom: Bradley, Avi and Shazia
- Fired: Shazia, with regret - For making a variety of mistakes, including the failure to use her alleged skills in media design to her advantage and being instrumental in the creation of the poor branding.
- You're Fired Panel: Abi Clarke, Ortis Deley, Thomas Skinner
- Notes:
Week 6: Dubai Corporate Hospitality[]
- Original Air Date: 9 February 2023
- Affinity: Rochelle (Project Manager), Avi, Bradley, Dani, Joe, Simba
- Apex: Victoria (Project Manager), Mark, Marnie, Megan, Sohail
- Task: Run corporate away days in Dubai with a teambuilding activity. Most profit made, wins.
- Task Review: Affinity focus on a camel tour with coffee making as the team-building exercise, attempting to make as much profit as possible, but face issues with dietary requirements, quality of service and are criticised for limiting the amount of liquid that their clientele can consume. Meanwhile, Apex focus on the marina with jetskiing, a yacht ride, and a DJ masterclass as the team building course, but face issues with food delays, a sick team member, and the availability of the DJ.
- Result: Apex made a total profit of 2,521 dirhams (£554), whilst Affinity made a total profit of 2,030 dirhams (£446).
- Winner: Apex by £108.
- Reward: Climbing up to the top of the o2.
- Left (sometime after the briefing): Reece - for reasons disputed outside the show; although Reece himself stated that he left due to “health issues”, there have been reports that he was disqualified from the process after being found to have consumed alcohol on the flight to Dubai.
- Brought into the boardroom: Rochelle, Joe and Simba
- Fired: Joe, with regret - For providing poor food service and playing a role in the decision to limit the drinks available to the clientele.
- You're Fired Panel: Micahela Wain, Reuben Kaye
- Notes:
Week 7: Children’s Lunchbox and App[]
- Original Air Date: 16 February 2023
- Affinity: Sohail (Project Manager), Avi, Bradley, Marnie, Rochelle
- Apex: Dani (Project Manager), Mark, Megan, Simba, Victoria
- Task: Design a new children's lunchbox for six-to-eight-year-olds, along with an accompanying app to encourage healthy eating, before pitching it to retailers. Most orders received, wins.
- Task review: Affinity design a pirate-themed, treasure chest-shaped lunchbox and app with an animated pirate mascot, but face issues with an incomplete app design, a bland box colour and poorly-chosen brand name called "Pirate Platinum Adventures", which along with constant talk of changes in the pitches leads to the retailers issuing no orders. Meanwhile, Apex design a leaf-shaped lunchbox and app with a caterpillar mascot named Larry, securing some orders despite concerns that the branding is potentially targeting the wrong age group and the lunchbox's shape and size makes it impractical.
- Result: Affinity received 0 orders, whilst Apex received 1,500 orders.
- Winner: Apex by 1,500 orders.
- Reward: Science-themed afternoon tea at the Ampersand Hotel.
- Brought into the boardroom: Sohail, Bradley and Marnie
- Fired: Sohail, with regret - For mismanaging his team and standing by a failed product.
- You're Fired Panel: Jake Lambert, Mike Soutar, Nikita Kanda
- Notes:
Week 8: Immersive Event[]
- Original Air Date: 23 February 2023
- Affinity: Avi (Project Manager), Bradley, Marnie, Rochelle
- Apex: Mark (Project Manager), Dani, Megan, Simba, Victoria
- Task: Run an immersive experience in Shropshire with food and entertainment. Most profit made, wins.
- Task review: Affinity run a Victorian experience in Blists Hill, serving fidget pie and presenting a contortionist, providing a memorable experience despite serving the wrong pie to a customer. Meanwhile, Apex run an experience at Shrewsbury Prison involving the guests being placed in the role of prisoners, serving gourmet burgers and presenting a magician, but face issues with costs and fail to sell tickets to the public, while those who do get tickets do not know about the immersive element of the experience, leading to confusion.
- Result: Apex made a total profit of £121.50, whilst Affinity made a total profit of £858.
- Winner: Affinity by £736.50
- Reward: Crystal Maze Live Experience
- Brought into the boardroom: Mark, Dani and Victoria
- Fired: Mark, with regret - For the team's failure to control their costs and his own failure to sell the immersive experience properly.
- You're Fired Panel: Carina Lepore, Josh Jones, Linda Plant
- Notes:
Week 9: Male Beauty[]
- Original Air Date: 2 March 2023
- Affinity: Bradley (Project Manager), Avi, Marnie, Rochelle
- Apex: Dani (Project Manager), Megan, Simba, Victoria
- Task: Create a male skincare brand and host a launch event for it where they must sell it to industry buyers. Most orders received, wins.
- Task review: Affinity attempt to create an exfoliant called "Anti-Venom" with a snake-themed bottle for the 30s-40s market, but their creation is seen as slimy and the branding is dubbed childish, while potential buyers are put off by the fact that the product stains the skin of the user. Meanwhile, Apex create a moisturising cream for older males called "Start Skin Co.", which is seen as unoriginal and comes with a star-shaped box that draws comparisons to scented candles.
- Result: Apex secured 11,350 orders, whilst Affinity secured 0 orders.
- Winner: Apex by 11,350 orders
- Reward: Special effects masterclass at Kryolan.
- Fired (after the result): Bradley - For being instrumental in creating a poor branding, touting changes to the product too many times in the pitches, and losing three times as project manager.
- Brought into the boardroom: Avi, Marnie and Rochelle
- Fired (during final boardroom): Avi, with regret - For his contribution to the failed formula and his questionable track record.
- You're Fired Panel: Dean Forbes, Ricky Martin, Suzi Ruffell
- Notes:
Week 10: Dog Food[]
- Original Air Date: 9 March 2023
- Affinity: Victoria (Project Manager), Marnie, Rochelle
- Apex: Megan (Project Manager), Dani, Simba
- Task: Create a new brand of dog food with a signature dish, before pitching it to major retailers. Most orders received, wins.
- Task review: Affinity create a gourmet brand with lamb as the signature ingredient, but face issues with the food's protein content, name, tagline and packaging. Meanwhile, Apex create an insect-based brand with a signature dish that is based on a dog's dinner of a Sunday roast, but the food's protein content is too low, it is found to have no texture, and it does not go down well with the focus group.
- Result: Affinity secured 1,000 orders, whilst Apex secured 0 orders.
- Winner: Affinity by 1,000 orders.
- Reward: Trip to Hotel Fairmont in Windsor Park via a chartered helicopter, where they will be served lunch.
- Brought into the boardroom: Megan, Dani and Simba
- Fired: Simba, with regret - For contributing to the poor branding, having a questionable track record and being perceived as not being someone who others listen to.
- You're Fired Panel: Emmanuel Sonubi, Dr James Greenwood, Karren Brady
- Notes:
Week 11: Interviews[]
- Original Air Date: 16 March 2023
- Semi-finalists: Dani, Marnie, Megan, Rochelle and Victoria
- Task: The five remaining candidates undergo a gruelling interview process from four interviewers - Claude Littner, Mike Soutar, Linda Plant and Baroness Brady aka Karren. Lord Sugar decides on which two proceed based on the feedback on their CVs and business plans.
- Candidate Review:
- Decision:
- Fired:
- Victoria
- Dani
- Megan
- You're Fired Panel:
- Notes:
Week 12: The Final[]
- Original Air Date: 23 March 2023
- Finalists: Marnie and Rochelle
- Marnie's Team: Bradley, Megan, Simba and Sohail
- Rochelle's Team: Avi, Dani, Joe and Victoria
- Task: Finalists prepare a pitch for their business plan, including campaigns and branding, before presenting it to a panel of experts. Lord Sugar decides on who is his business partner, based on the feedback on the plan and their overall performance.
- Task Review:
- Decision:
- Runner-Up: Rochelle
- Hired: Marnie
- You're Hired Panel:
- Notes: