Record viewers for Apprentice

IT may be considered by some to have lost its allure, but TV3 show The Apprentice has seen its audience numbers rocket by more than 100,000 in a single year.

Amid bizarre 11-month calendar projects, Playboy TV revelations and more than a few penny apple references, the Bill Cullen-led programme has seen its appeal soar in its third Irish season.

This evening, one of the two remaining competitors to become Mr Cullen’s latest apprentice — Niamh McDonald and Michelle Massey — will be able to reveal their fate to the public.