16 March 2023 , 20:52
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The Apprentice star Claude Littner was forced to temporarily leave the series after he was injured in a 'freak accident'.
He was missing from the 16th series due to the injury and was replaced by Tim Campbell. He briefly returned for the first episode of the seventeenth series but was not well enough to continue.
And now, almost two years after his accident, BBC One confirmed that Claude is returning to our screens on Thursday evening.
He will be part of the Interviews episode, which will see the remaining candidates face the scrutiny of Lord Alan Sugar's advisors, including Baroness Karren Brady, Mike Soutar, Linda Plant, and Claude.
However, you may be wondering what happened to Claude and why he had to temporarily leave the series.
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The Accident
Claude was missing from a series due to an accident (Getty Images)
He got into a 'freak accident' (BBC/Fremantle Media/Ray Burmiston)Claude suffered a horror crash when he was out on his bike and was left fearing his leg would be amputated.
The 73-year-old, the former chief executive of Tottenham Hotspur, was "pottering along" near his north London home when disaster struck in April 2021.
"I must have been doing no more than 10 kilometres an hour on this sort of two-track road. The next thing I knew, I was on the left-hand side of the street, my bike was in the middle of the road and I didn’t know what happened.
"I suspect I hit a pothole or something like that, but I must have blanked out at the moment of impact, because the next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground."
He's finally returning to The Apprentice (BBC/Freemantle Media)He was rushed to the trauma unit at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington by an ambulance.
Speaking to PA at the time, he said: "My wife and my sons were there as well and [the doctors] decided they were going to amputate my leg.
"And then they had another chat about it and they said, 'Look, let’s get him into theatre right away tonight and let’s see if we can save his leg'.
"And I went into theatre and it was a very long operation and they didn’t take my leg off."
He ended up losing two stone after the horrific accident as he recovered.
Recovery
Claude said he's been doing "wonderfully well" (ITV)Earlier this year, Claude told concerned fans that he's been doing "wonderfully well" after the accident.
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Appearing on Good Morning Britain, he said the paramedics on the scene 'saved his life' and said an ambulance was right behind him after his fall.
"It was a freak accident. I think someone was looking out for me but if someone was looking out for me better, I wouldn't have had the accident," Claude explained.
"I was lucky to have the ambulance driving behind me."
He told presenter Susanna Reid : "I am doing wonderfully well, thank you.
"I am very grateful to the ambulance crew for looking after me and of course the surgeons at St Mary's who put me back together."
The Apprentice will air on Thursday, March 16 at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.