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.

Sir Alan Sugar will be back for next years series of The Apprentice and his new role of Government adviser will “not compromise the BBC’s impartiality”, the BBC said.

Sir Alan said: “I am passionate about business and enterprise and that has always been my motivation for wanting to take on this role.

“I am glad that following detailed discussions, the BBC is satisfied that I will not be doing anything to affect its commitment to impartiality.”

In a statement the BBC said: “Following detailed discussions with Sir Alan Sugar, the BBC is satisfied that his new role as an Enterprise Champion to the Government will not compromise the BBC’s impartiality or his ability to present The Apprentice.

“Sir Alan is not going to be making policy for the Government nor does he have a duty to endorse Government policy.

“Moreover, Sir Alan has agreed that he will suspend all public facing activity relating to this unpaid post in the lead up to and during any shows that he is presenting on the BBC.”

Lorraine Tighe has revealed that she wishes she had never appeared on BBC’s Apprentice TV show.

Lorraine said that her appearance on the show has upset her family and ruined her reputation.

She told the Lancashire Evening Post: “My family never signed up for a reality television show. They live in a small town in Ireland and from their point of view it has ruined their reputation there.

“If I had my chance again, there is no way I would do it again. The whole experience has been a very tough lesson for me to learn.”

She added: “I have no experience working with the media and I just hope that anyone thinking of taking on The Apprentice next year thinks about it.

“I was the cannon fodder this year and I am sure next year there will be someone just like me.”

Tighe also complained about the show’s editing saying that the show implied she was “all about gut instinct”.

“I was disappointed at that because I am a professional person and I think I came across as Mystic Meg rather than someone with a lot of experience in business,” she said.

Apprentice boss Sir Alan Sugar wanted to hire both show finalists this year according to Kate Walsh.

Kate lost the show to Yasmina last week but insists that Sir Alan wanted to hire her as well.

Walsh told The Sunday Mercury: “Sir Alan phoned to say on Friday what the outcome was. He said he tried to get the BBC to let him hire us both but he wasn’t allowed because of the format of the show.

“It’s a massive compliment and he said we were the best people he’s ever had in the final.”

She added: “He’s very shrewd. I was gutted to lose but I think in any job recruitment process the employer has a list of qualities in mind and perhaps Yasmina matched Sir Alan’s spec.”