The Apprentice (British TV series) series 5
The fifth series of British reality television series The Apprentice was broadcast in the UK on BBC One, from 25 March to 7 June 2009. Because of ITV's live coverage of a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match involving England, the final episode was broadcast three days earlier to avoid schedule clashing. It is the last series to feature Margaret Mountford as one of Alan Sugar's aides, after deciding to leave following the conclusion of the fifth series, although she would retain a occasional roles in the programme until the end of the ninth series. Alongside the standard twelve episodes, two specials were aired alongside this series – "The Final Five" on 3 June; and "Why I Fired Them" on 5 June.
Although sixteen applicants successfully earned a place on this series, one participant was forced to drop out before filming began, leaving production staff unable to replace them. As a result, fifteen candidates were left to take part in the fifth series, with Yasmina Siadatan becoming the overall winner. Excluding the specials, the series averaged around 8.37 million viewers during its broadcast.
Series overview
Applicants took part in pre-production auditions and interviews throughout July 2008, across London, Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham. Sixteen candidates were eventually selected to form the final line-up for the fifth series but, before production could begin on the first episode, Adam Freeman was forced to drop out due to family reasons. As a result, production staff were left with no time to find a replacement, leading to the decision that filming go ahead with the remaining fifteen participants, with Alan Sugar required to refrain from multiple firings outside of the Interviews stage. As such, it is the only series in the show's history to feature an unbalanced mix of male and female candidates. This series' team names were Empire and ''Ignite. Filming of the boardroom scenes for the tenth episode was delayed until the day before work on the Interviews stage was to begin, due to candidate Kate Walsh requiring time off to attend a family funeral.Following the previous series, Sugar deemed it unwise to continue using exotic locations abroad for the setting of tasks in the wake of the global economic recession that had begun in 2007. His decision led to any tasks set abroad to be limited to within the EU, until production of the ninth series in 2012. Another change for the show was the departure of Paul Kemsley, who chose not to return as an interviewer for the fifth series, leading to him being replaced with Alan Watts. After discussing with Sugar about her intention to leave the programme, Margaret Mountford confirmed the move in her column for The Daily Telegraph on 1 June 2009, with it also being discussed by both Mountford and Sugar during their appearance on You're Fired following the series finale.
Yasmina Siadatan was crowned the series' winner. A few weeks after conclusion of the series, she developed an office relationship with a fellow development manager, resulting in her getting pregnant. After spending time on maternity leave, she fell pregnant again in 2012, ultimately handing in her notice to Sugar that she would be leaving his employment, later acquiring a job under Dragons' Den'' judge James Caan.
Performance chart
'''Key:'''Episodes
Ratings
Official episode viewing figures are from BARB.| Episode no. | Airdate | Viewers | BBC One weekly ranking |
| 1 | 25 March 2009 | 8.71 | 4 |
| 2 | 1 April 2009 | 7.16 | 5 |
| 3 | 8 April 2009 | 8.04 | 5 |
| 4 | 15 April 2009 | 7.86 | 4 |
| 5 | 22 April 2009 | 8.32 | 2 |
| 6 | 29 April 2009 | 8.29 | 2 |
| 7 | 6 May 2009 | 8.45 | 2 |
| 8 | 13 May 2009 | 8.50 | 2 |
| 9 | 20 May 2009 | 8.90 | 2 |
| 10 | 27 May 2009 | 7.14 | 3 |
| 11 | 3 June 2009 | 9.76 | 1 |
| 12 | 7 June 2009 | 9.31 | 2 |
Specials
| Episode | Airdate | Viewers | BBC One weekly ranking |
| The Final Five | 3 June 2009 | 5.06 | 17 |
| Why I Fired Them | 5 June 2009 |