The BBC has called for a full review of background checks on contestants for The Apprentice after offensive tweets posted a decade ago by this year's candidate Levi Hodgetts-Hague were uncovered. The posts, which described Muslims as 'dirty', women as 'slags' and 'dogs', police as 'pigs', and expressed support for far-right activist Tommy Robinson, were made before filming but only came to light afterwards.
A BBC spokesperson said the corporation was 'completely unaware' of the 'abhorrent comments' and described the views as 'totally unacceptable'. The independent production company Naked has been asked to review its social media vetting process 'given the process has clearly failed in this instance'. The show, which airs its first episode on Thursday, sees 20 candidates compete for a £250,000 investment from Lord Alan Sugar.
This is not the first time The Apprentice has faced controversy over its contestants. In January, former candidate Dr Asif Munaf was struck off the medical register for posting antisemitic, racist and sexist comments. Previous seasons have also featured contestants with criminal records or controversial views, including right-wing commentator Katie Hopkins.
Celebrity PR Julian Henry said Naked bore 'ultimate responsibility' for vetting, noting that checking backgrounds is 'time intensive and costly' and there is 'an obvious temptation to cut corners'. Professor Jamie Medhurst of Aberystwyth University suggested the BBC may need to review how it works with independent production companies, adding that there may be pressure to cast 'interesting' characters to create drama.
Alex Segal of InterTalent agency explained that reality shows like The Apprentice use ensemble casts where each person fits a certain role, and that casting agents use people or AI to search social media for offensive content. However, he noted such checks are 'not bulletproof' and that Hodgetts-Hague's comments 'clearly slipped the net'.
