Lord Alan Sugar has blasted the Conservative party for putting pressure on the BBC to delay his show. Sugar’s Apprentice reality TV show usually airs in March, however due to his new role as ‘Business Tsar’ and possible conflicts with the 2010 general election, the BBC have pushed it back to June next year.

Lord Sugar told The Mirror: “They’ve delayed it for some political reason which is a bit of a joke in my opinion.

“Somebody from the Tory party complained to the BBC about me being an adviser to the Government and the result is that the television programme can’t be transmitted until the General Election is over.

“It is very frustrating because the programme itself has got nothing in it that is political at all, but unfortunately the BBC are frightened of the Tory party.

“They’ve been bullied by the Tory party and they can’t stand up to common sense.”

Fan of BBC’s reality TV show The Apprentice, will be disappointed to hear that the show has been moved from its normal March slot to June of 2010.

The scheduling change took place because of Alan Sugar’s role as Gordon Brown’s enterprise tsar. The BBC can’t take the risk of the show colliding with a British general election due to rules of impartiality.

An Apprentice insider told The Sun: “We’re disappointed. March is a good time for us because it’s the main reality show then. Bosses are worried fewer people will tune in over summer.”

The Apprentice’ star Kate Walsh might have got further in the boardroom, but her boyfriend (and fellow ‘Apprentice’ star) Phil Taylor insists he’s going to be the boss of the ballroom!

‘Strictly’ pro-dancer Karen Hardy is giving dance fans Phil, 29, and Kate, 27, a treat with some expert dance classes. The pair are tango’ing every day this week on Kate’s show, ‘Live From Studio Five’, but after witnessing his first attempt, Little Miss Showbiz wasn’t impressed!

‘It’s not as bad as it looks, honest! I hate to admit it, but Miss Twinkletoes Walsh is better than me at the moment, I can’t believe it because I’m a mint dancer in nightclubs!’ laughed Phil. ‘I promise by the end of the week it will be a different story!’

And even the skin-tight, sparkly lycra outfits aren’t enough to put him off going on next year’s show. ‘I’m a massive fan of ‘Strictly,’ he told me. ‘I’d love to be a contestant on the show, it’s a total institution!’

Wonder what Sir Alan would make of the sight of Phil in sequins and a spray tan?

Throughout the week the Live From Studio Five audience can follow Kate and her partner Philip Taylor’s progress as they are taught a series of challenging dance routines by Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Hardy. On Friday they will be facing their very own panel of judges, performing in front of Ian, Melinda and a special guest judge who will mark their skills.

Watch Phil and Kate in action on ‘Live At Studio Five’ every day this week at 6.25pm on C5.

The BBC have replaced Sir Alan Sugar’s right hand woman, Margaret Mountford with Karren Brady .

Mountford announced her decision to leave The Apprentice during the last series of the show, claiming that she wanted to dedicate more time to academic studies.

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Brady is currently the chief executive of Birmingham City Football Club and is already familiar with the show, having been chosen as team leader on a celebrity version back in March 2006. She also takes part in the interview round of each series, putting contestants through their paces and reporting back to Sir Alan.

“Lord Sugar has decided to appoint Karren Brady, who has appeared in The Apprentice before,” a Talkback Thames spokeswoman said.

As if a year wasn’t long enough to wait for the next series of The Apprentice, the BBC may be forced to postpone their 2010 season due to impartiality worries.

Sir Alan Sugar has become Lord Alan Sugar after he was made a Labour peer and now takes his place as the government’s newly-appointed enterprise champion.

After Sugar’s new role was made public, the BBC were inundated with complaints that his government position could affect their political impartiality. While the BBC trust feel there has been no breach, they do admit that it may be unwise to air the next season close in the months leading up to a general election.

Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons said: “Questions have been raised about the dual role played by Lord Sugar, as star of the BBC’s The Apprentice while also a Labour peer advising the government as enterprise champion.

“The trust’s editorial standards committee has judged that there has been no breach of the BBC editorial guidelines.”

The trust added that, when scheduling next year’s series of the main Apprentice and The Junior Apprentice, the BBC “must give due consideration to the implications of showing the programmes in the months immediately before a general election”.

The elction has to take place by June 2010, so feasibly we could be waiting until July or August for our next Apprentice fix. How very devastating!

Alan Carr has claimed that Sir Alan Sugar was “horrible” and “vile” when he took part in BBC’s Comic Relief Does The Apprentice.

The Channel 4 funnyman told new! magazine: “Just how scary is he? He’s horrible. I thought because we were celebrities he’d tone it down, but he was vile and laid into me.

“I used to take the mickey out of the contestants when they cried on The Apprentice, but he had me in tears. I was gulping and had a lump in my throat!”

Carr was also disappointed in the mighty Margaret Mountford when she failed to defend him in the boardroom.

He revealed: “I thought Margaret might support me. I thought: ‘She’s a woman, she’s a bit of a fag hag – she’ll help me’. But she just rolled her eyes.”

According to the Press Association, The Apprentice stars Philip Taylor and Kate Walsh are engaged.

Kate has apparently been showing off a £3,000 engagement ring which the pair chose together at a jewellers in London.

A source is quoted by the PA as saying, “They are very much in love and this was always more than a work fling. Neither of them wanted to split.

“Once the show aired they were reminded of how well they had got on and Phil picked up the phone. They were back in each other’s arms within days and now it looks like they will have each other for life.

“Phil had been known as a womaniser but Kate has ended all that. He loves her to bits and is smitten.”

Kate, who was runner-up on The Apprentice, lost out on a job with Sir Alan to Yasmina Siadatan.

Ex Apprentice star James McQuillan has apparently achieved his dream to be a horse racing commentator, following in the footsteps of his hero, John McCririck.

The Sun reports that James had been offered a job by Channel 4 racing and James reckons that he can “help to boost interest in the sport”.

He told the paper, “I’m doing some screen tests now but the plan is to have a regular slot on a racing show.

“Horse racing is the biggest sleeping giant. Apart from the Derby it’s not well known.”

James was eliminated in the semi-finals of The Apprentice but he hasn’t let that knock back bring him down and he’s been busier than ever and has even written a book on childbirth.

One of his money making ideas on The Apprentice was a birthing pool which he demonstrated in hilarious fashion. It was because of this that a publisher approached him and commissioned the book.

James, who’s a dad himself, said, “I’m going to say everything totally wrong – a guide on how to cope with a hormone wreck.

“I’ll probably ostracise half the population.”

Apprentice candidate, Lorraine Tighe has admitted that she “looked horrific” whilst appearing on the TVshow.

Lorraine, who often looked like she needed a good old wash, says that she felt overshadowed by her fellow female competitors.

“I was alongside a group of particularly pretty girls… All the girls were slim, lovely and well turned out. Then there was me,” she told The News Of The World.

“Kate [Walsh] would go to bed every night in her makeup so she looked groomed the next day, and Debra [Barr] would wear £1,000 Armani dresses. I felt like I was trapped in a beauty pageant. I was way out of my depth.”

The 36-year-old added that comments about her appearance had been “upsetting” and “devastating”, admitting: “My self-esteem went through the floor. I was literally crying all the time.”

Tighe has now had a complete makeover and lost two stone since appearing on the show.

“On The Apprentice I looked horrific,” she said. “Next to all those other gorgeous girls, I was definitely a one out of 10 woman. Now I’m a 10 out of 10. I can’t believe it.”

Well I wouldn’t go that far Lorraine!

It’s been revealed today that The Apprentice series five runner-up Kate Walsh has been offered a role on GMTV presenting a feature about “what women should wear in the office”.

The Sun reports that her presenting slot will most likely be during Lorraine Kelly’s show. A source close to Walsh told the paper, “Kate is desperate to get a career in telly…

“She did a screen test for GMTV and they liked her.

“The plan is for her to do some stuff with Lorraine and then get something regular.”

Kate was pipped to the post on The Apprentice by Yasmina Siadatan but she didn’t leave the show entirely empty handed; she met her current love and fellow contestant Philip Taylor during filming.