Why Tim Campbell is replaced on The Apprentice this week by Mike Soutar

Mike Soutar will step in for Tim Campbell on The Apprentice 2022 this week.

This series has seen former Apprentice winner Tim Campbell as Lord Sugar’s aide, replacing Claude Littner who could not take part in filming because of medical reasons.

However this week will see another switch up as Mike Soutar – who has previously appeared on The Apprentice interviewing candidates – joins in place of Tim.

Tim was unable to film the episode as he was forced to self-isolate at the time of recording.

A source told the Radio Times: “Tim had been in close contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID, and although he remained negative, as per the guidance at the time of filming, Tim isolated with Mike Soutar stepping in for the episode.”

In this week’s episode, Lord Sugar summons the remaining candidates to KidZania in west London, where he reveals that their next task is to create and brand a new baby food, then pitch and sell it to leading retailers, with the team who cooks up the biggest profit winning.

Half the members of each team head to a kitchen to create their baby food and the other half of the team oversees the branding of their product.

In the boardroom, Lord Sugar has plenty to chew over, and for at least one candidate, the knives are out as they are told, ‘You’re fired!’

Meanwhile it’s been confirmed that Claude will return to the show next week for the iconic interview stages.

Claude said: “Obviously, there’s not a huge amount I can say without giving too much away but I just hope that when it airs next week, well I hope everyone thinks it was worth the wait.

“The whole team went to so much trouble to have me back. I had written off this series, but it would seem Lord Sugar and the production company had other ideas!

“I’ve had so many messages on social media too from viewers saying they hope I’m coming back for the interviews and how much they miss my smiling (!) but obviously I’ve not been able to say anything until now.”

As for whether or not Claude would be back for next year’s series, Claude shared: “I certainly feel well enough to come back and am very optimistic, but the focus for the moment is about shining the spotlight on the remaining candidates in this series and finding the next successful business for Alan to invest in.”

The Apprentice airs Thursday nights at 9PM on BBC One and iPlayer.