The Apprentice: Fans think Lord Sugar may have just 'leaked' the winner ahead of final amid social media clue

The final two remaining candidates Dean Franklin and Anisa Khan are set to battle it out in one last ditch attempt to win Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment and mentorship. Dean is competing to earn the investment for his air conditioning company, while Anisa is hoping that Lord Sugar will help her to expand her pizza business.

However, while the BBC will be hoping to keep the eventual winner a secret until the final episode of series 19 airs tomorrow night (April 17), some fans think Lord Sugar may have just revealed who bagged his £250,000 investment ahead of time.

Sleuthing viewers took to Reddit to share that at the time of posting, Lord Sugar followed on Dean on Instagram and not Anisa, leading many to believe that the billionaire businessman had chosen the air conditioning entrepreneur as his new business partner.

One fan said on the social media site: “Lord Sugar follows Dean on Instagram but doesn't follow Anisa.” Another viewer chimed in, saying: “The Instagram thing is very interesting to be honest. Bit weird that he's only following one of them.”

However, others were doubtful that Lord Sugar’s social media faux pas spoiled the end of the series for fans. One doubtful viewer said: “The Instagram thing is weird but I highly doubt Lord Sugar manages the account himself - it looks highly curated by a team to me and therefore is a massive slip up having the account follow Dean.”

Lord Sugar appears to have rectified the slip up, having since followed Anisa on his Instagram account.

If the slip up does reveal the winner, it wouldn’t be the first time Lord Sugar has spoiled the climax of the show. In 2016, he inadvertently revealed that baker Alana Spencer had bagged his £250,000 investment after following the candidate on Instagram before the final aired.

Many fans have pointed out that they do not read too much into Lord Sugar’s social media usage ahead of the final, with the BBC star having a spotty track record of which former candidate he does and doesn’t not follow. One fan said: “I also think people are looking too much in to the instagram following thing. He is following Turner’s Pies (a company he hasn’t invested in as Phil didn’t win) but not Bronx (Marnie’s company which he still owns half of).”

In addition to this, two versions of the final boardroom are filmed for the final with each version showing each candidate triumphing. Lord Sugar makes a decision on who has won the his investment on the final day of filming, with the candidates, production team, and even aides Karren Brady and Tim Campbell unaware of who has been chosen until the run up to the transmission of the final episode.

To find out who prevails to become Lord Sugar’s new business partner, tune into The Apprentice series 19 final at 9pm on Thursday, April 17 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.