Laura Whitmore infuriates BBC bosses by pulling out of Celebrity Apprentice particular simply DAYS earlier than filming as lineup is revealed
Laura Whitmore has infuriated BBC bosses by pulling out of her appearance on the Celebrity Apprentice special, MailOnline can reveal.
The former Love Island presenter, 39, left the casting team in the lurch after backing out of the show’s lineup, which includes the likes of Big Brother host AJ Odudu, EastEnders star Jake Wood, and JLS singer JB Gill.
Lord Sugar‘s spin-off is to celebrate 20 years of The Apprentice as a host of famous faces take on the challenge of impressing the business mogul for charity.
But podcast host Laura will not be one of them after she opted out of the BBC series due to an ‘unavoidable clash’ in her schedule.
Other names taking part in the one-off special are TV’s Rob Rinder, actress Sarah Hadland, and ex-Apprentice candidate Tom Skinner, who competed for Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment in 2019.
A TV source told MailOnline: ‘Laura infuriated BBC bosses by pulling out of the Celebrity Apprentice special.
Laura Whitmore has infuriated BBC bosses by pulling out of her appearance on the Celebrity Apprentice special, MailOnline can reveal
The former Love Island presenter left the casting team in the lurch after backing out of the show’s lineup, which includes Big Brother host AJ Odudu and EastEnders star Jake Wood
Lord Sugar’s spin-off is to celebrate 20 years of The Apprentice as a host of famous faces take on the challenge of impressing the business mogul for charity
‘Of course, there can be a lot of last minute changes in television, but it was just days before filming started and the team were very much left in the lurch.
‘The dates did not work for Laura and so she backed out, but many were left in an awkward position by her decision.’
The 12 contestants announced to be taking part on the celebratory season also include Gladiator Legend, real name Matt Morsia, funnyman Eddie Kadi and standup comic Shazia Mirza.
Former Strictly star Angela Scanlon, Paralympian Kadeena Cox and Radio 1 DJ Charlie Hedges will also face Lord Sugar in the boardroom as they complete tasks during the new series.
Laura, who stood down from presenting Love Island in 2022 after three years at the helm, is now pursuing an acting path and is currently rehearsing for new play Apex Predator, which she stars in from March 22 until April 26.
Writing on Instagram last month, Laura wrote alongside the casting announcement: ‘I promised myself a long time ago to create not imitate and do what I love.’
She inherited the Love Island hosting role from the late Caroline Flack, who passed away weeks before filming of the winter series began in 2020.
Laura, whose husband Iain Stirling is the ITV2 show’s voiceover, co-hosts podcast Murder They Wrote alongside the comedian, who she shares a daughter with.
MailOnline has contacted Laura’s representatives and an Apprentice spokesperson for comment.
Tom Skinner, who competed for Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment on The Apprentice in 2019, is returning to the show for the celebrity season
The 19th series of the civilian Apprentice is currently airing on the BBC, with Thursday night’s episode seeing the firing of candidate Jonny Heaver.
It follows the departure of Dr Jana Denzel, who MailOnline revealed quit the show before Lord Sugar had the chance to sack him.
He stood down from the BBC process amid a ‘racism row’ where he was accused of using the highly offensive word ‘coloured’ to describe a black person during a task.
Jana later admitted to the error and explained how he apologised to all involved and took the BBC up on educational training, where he learned the meaning of the term.
Speaking on TikTok, he said: ‘I apologised and they offered me some training behind that word and I said yes, I would love to learn more.
‘They gave me the training and now I have a better understanding of the use of that word, the history of it, especially in the US.
‘I wasn’t reprimanded or forced to do the training, it happened way after we finished filming.’
