01 February 2024 , 09:38
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Claude Littner, a familiar face on BBC's The Apprentice, has spoken out about his future on the show.
Fans of the hit BBC show were worried when Lord Sugar's trusted advisor, Claude, was replaced by season one winner, Tim Campbell in 2022. Lord Sugar explained: "You may be wondering why this gentleman is here. Regretfully, Claude has not been very well and Tim will be assisting me for the next 11 weeks."
Viewers expressed their disappointment on social media platform X after the announcement. One viewer said: "Shame about Claude. Hope he got better."
Another fan posted: "NOOOOOO, NOT CLAUDE!" while a third tweeted: "Can't believe I'm this upset over Claude". Someone else added: "Claude absent for 11 weeks?! Oh dear".
Claude will return for the interview stage (BBC)Tim will return as Lord Sugar's trusted aide for the new season and fans were worried that Claude would be missing again as he doesn't appear in the latest trailer. However, Claude reassured fans by saying, "I will be doing the interviews."
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Claude had a serious accident last year when he crashed his electric bike. He underwent nine surgeries and doctors barely managed to save his leg.
Speaking about the incident on Good Morning Britain, Claude said: "I am doing wonderfully well, thank you. I am very grateful to the ambulance crew for looking after me and of course the surgeons at St Mary's who put me back together."
"It was a freak accident. I think someone was looking out for me but if someone was looking out for me better, I wouldn't have had the accident. I was lucky to have the ambulance driving behind me."
"I was just pottering along, I must have been doing no more than 10 kilometres an hour on this sort of two-track road,"he previously explained to PA. "The next thing I knew, I was on the left-hand side of the street, my bike was in the middle of the road and I didn’t know what happened.
"I suspect I hit a pothole or something like that, but I must have blanked out at the moment of impact, because the next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground." Claude was replaced by Tim in 2022. He returned for the seventeenth series a year later, but after one episode he was not well enough to continue.
Tim stepped into the role again and has returned this year with Lord Sugar's long-term aide Karren Brady, who has been in the role since 2010.
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