Apprentice star Lottie Lion apologises after rant where she called Lord Sugar an ‘actual racist’
APPRENTICE star Lottie Lion has apologised for calling Lord Sugar a racist and "offending anyone".
Lottie, 20, branded show boss Lord Sugar, 73, an "actual racist" after ridiculing Venezuelan Apprentice star Jemelin Artigas on Instagram in a drunken video.
The wannabe businesswoman impersonated Jemelin in a chat with fellow Apprentice alum Ryan Mark Parsons – and then posted it online.
Explaining herself, she later told : "We impersonated various candidates from The Apprentice on our Instagram Live on Friday.
"We are aware one candidate has taken offence and can only apologise."
She also said she wanted to entertain her 16,000 followers on Twitter with her videos, when she added on the site yesterday: "Doing these impressions of The Apprentice candidates last night was meant to be some light entertainment for my fans during these difficult times.
"I am aware that an individual HAS taken offence, and I can only apologise."
In the video Lottie talks about businesswoman Jemelin – who moved to the UK aged 16 - and says: “She’s the most illegitimate person I think I know.”
Then, mocking Jemelin’s accent, Lottie says: “She’s like 18 years ago I moved to this country and it’s like I didn’t even speak the language, all I did was clean toilets.”
Lottie, of Bristol – whose business plan was a posh country club for ladies - then adds: “It’s like, darling, we all started from nothing – I started from nothing."
Lottie then holds up a bottle and glass and says: “That’s what happens when I have too much wine.”
She goes on to say: “If we’re going to talk about f****** racists, let’s talk about Lord Sugar. He’s an actual racist – he’s taken a picture of the Venezuelan football team or something and posted it on Twitter saying yes I recognise these from working on a beach.”
Mum of one Jemelin, 35, had hit back at Lottie, saying: “She’s a massive bully and a racist – and it needs to stop.”
Last month Lord Sugar confirmed The Apprentice 2020 is cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic - but all the contestants will be invited back for next year.
He said: "We hope that if things calm down by July we might be able to start filming in September, in which case the show will be on early next year."
He explained if that is not possible they will "skip a whole year" but that the show will go on.
"One of the things we're considering, [is] to have two series air in one year. It will be a big challenge to do but it's possible."
He revealed the show's 2020 series was cancelled on Twitter after a fan asked about the BBC show as the country continues to face the coronavirus pandemic.
A fan of the programme asked: "Is The Apprentice cancelled this year, Lord? Sorry if you have already answered that?"
Lord Sugar replied: "Yes I guess so. Could be back in Spring 2021 or skip a whole year and back in October 2021."
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Last year's show was won by Carina Lepore and pulled in an average of 7million viewers.
It has aired on the BBC every year since 2005.
The Apprentice is the latest in a long list of TV shows to be affected by the outbreak.
Soaps EastEnders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks have all suspended filming and reduced their weekly schedules.