Last month, season 19 of The Apprentice hit our screens. 

This season has already brought The Shard, sharp suits, and surprise resignations to our living rooms ― classic Apprentice fare.

But many also associate the BBC hit with some, er, interesting decisions from the cast members. Remember Susan Ma asking whether the French like their children in season 7? And how about Jessica Cunningham’s team losing the jeans they were supposed to be promoting in season 12, and series 3 winner Simon Ambrose’s doomed trampoline assembly)?

In a recent episode of behind-the-scenes showbiz podcast The Rest Is Entertainment, though, co-hosts Richard Osman and Marina Hyde explained the TV magic behind the questionable behaviour. 

A fan asked whether the cast of The Apprentice really get woken up at 4am, to which movie and TV expert Marina replied that they do ― even if the cars don’t actually leave 20 minutes after the “disorienting” wake-up calls.

She added, “Sometimes the producers have to turn the lights on or bang the doors to make sure that they actually wake up on time”.

Richard explained that while contestants really do only have 20 minutes to get ready, the cars also don’t leave at 4:20 because the crew needs to get footage. Still, he said, it’s true that the cast are “very, very tired all the time”.

“Sleep deprivation is both one of torture and reality TV’s greatest weapons,” Marina agreed. 

“They’re often going to bed about 11o’clock, and then you are up at four. And a lot of the lunatic decisions they make ― and the kind of absolutely left-field behaviour ― comes because they are very, very tired.”

Speaking to The Guardian in 2023, former Love Is Blind contestant Jeremy Hartwell, said: “All these reality TV shows find some way to implement sleep deprivation... I would start bursting into tears for no reason”.

In the same article, Reece Donnelly, a former contestant on The Apprentice, said that he regularly only slept from midnight to 4 am while shooting. 

“The art of that show, and what I know now from watching it back, is – people were never thick, but their brains were like mush,” he told the publication.

“Half of the arguments that happened on my season probably wouldn’t have happened if people had been really well rested.”