Lord Sugar says he wants to keep hosting The Apprentice until he is 77.
He will be back for a 15th year fronting the BBC show next week and insists he is as hungry as ever to find new young entrepreneurs.
Now 72, the multimillionaire tycoon said: “We’ve got one more series I’m contracted to for the record.
"That will be the 16th and the format owner will be eagerly chasing after us.
“I might do it to 20, yeah 20 sounds a round figure.
"It was very difficult in the early days to create a job for someone, so when we changed the prize, the 50-50 business venture has turned out to be a sparkling winner.
“It takes me back to my old days of hustling, starting from scratch and helping young people get going.
“What makes the show is different characters... from all walks of life.”
This year he has attracted candidates from a range of backgrounds. From an paralympic athlete to an artisan bakery owner, from a chartered engineer to a sports management agent, and from a finance manager to a pillow salesman, each must draw from their experience and natural talent.
Asked if any of the 16 had signed up to the show for non-business reasons and were keen to be famous, Lord Sugar said: “Sometimes they come for the wrong reasons.
“We and the BBC screen these people. We weed them out and they don’t get the fame sometimes they were trying to get. We end up with people who are there for the right reasons, proper candidates with a business mind.
“These guys can probably see more than me [Claude Littner and Baroness Brady] because they are out on the street with them.
"You know what it is like, as soon as one of the girls sees the camera she is flicking her hair or a guy is pushing himself in front of the camera.
“But I get feedback from Karren and Claude, this one thinks Hollywood is ready for them. But not many slip through the net. Of the 16 contestants there are probably a couple.”
All candidates are competing to win a £250,000 investment for their business from Lord Sugar in return for a 50% stake.
Over eight years, he has put £2.25million into nine ventures.
The series kicks off with arguably the most ambitious task to date, as Lord Sugar whisks the hopefuls away to Cape Town, South Africa.
The teams have to run tours on the outskirts of the port city.
The first episode will run for an additional five minutes as the BBC pushes back the News at Ten for the 64-minute premiere.
Other tasks include running a corporate away day on a steam train, designing a theme park ride, creating a electric bicycle and marketing an unsigned music artist.
Lord Sugar’s adviser Claude said of the candidates: “This year I found them incredibly irritating. You will be irritated too, I guarantee it.”
- The Apprentice, next Wednesday, 9pm, BBC1.
