Apprentice finalist, Alex Wortherspoon has revealed that he has been receiving numerous death threats since the show began to air in March.

The Sun quotes him as saying: “There are obviously some warped people out there because I’ve been getting some seriously abusive messages. One guy even sent me an email saying ‘I wish you’d die’, which was a bit strong.”

A BBC spokeswoman said: “Obviously we take the safety of the contestants very seriously so we are looking into this.”

An insider added: “Unfortunately it goes with the territory on The Apprentice. If you put people in a high-pressured situation they could act quite tough and mean.

“Most viewers understand it’s just TV – but occasionally some idiots don’t get it.”