Donald Trump's scandalous The Apprentice sacking and his unexpected replacement
Donald Trump was in charge of hirings and firings on The Apprentice for 14 seasons - and ended up getting a taste of his own medicine.
Viewers first went inside the business mogul's boardroom back in 2004, with candidates competing for a one-year $250,000 starting contract to promote one of Trump's properties.
After announcing he would be running for president in June 2015, Trump announced he would leave the show, claiming TV network NBC were unhappy about his political ambitions.
"NBC renewed The Apprentice because we had a great season last season," he said of the eighth series, which drew in the second smallest audience for a finale in the show's history.
"They would love me not to be doing this [running for the presidency], I will tell you right now."
The Apprentice's Shazia felt 'unsafe' in house with co-stars due to 'bullying'
Trump insisted that the channel's "top people" wanted to keep him as host of the programme, but that he was legally required to quit due to his run for the White House.
Donald Trump had Donald Trump Jnr and Ivanka Trump as his aides on The Apprentice (REX/Shutterstock)"The top people come to my office and they said, 'Please do this [The Apprentice],'" he claimed. "Essentially, legally, I'm not allowed to do it."
However, the next day a very different version of his exit was given by NBC, who released a statement cutting all ties with him.
This was due to vile remarks he made about Mexico during a rambling speech to kick off his presidency bid.
Trump said he would build a "great wall" at the southern US border, which he would make Mexico, because Mexico they are "sending people who are rapists, drug dealers and criminals".
NBC confirmed Trump's departure from The Apprentice and added that it would also stop broadcasting Trump's Miss USA and Miss Universe Pageants.
"At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values," it read, "Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr Trump."
Trump hit back, calling NBC "weak" and "foolish" for their decision, claiming the country "must have strong borders".
Trump was fired from his own show (Mark Burnett Productions)In a statement, he said: "If NBC is so weak and so foolish to not understand the serious illegal immigration problem in the United States, coupled with the horrendous and unfair trade deals we are making with Mexico, then their contract violating closure of Miss Universe/Miss USA will be determined in court.
"Furthermore, they will stand behind lying Brian Williams, but won’t stand behind people that tell it like it is, as unpleasant as that may be."
'Lord Sugar fired me from The Apprentice first - I don't want his £250k anyway'
Lord Sugar, who is Trump's counterpart on the UK version of The Apprentice, had his say on Trump's departure.
In September 2017, Lord Sugar said there was "an air of mystique" about the American's departure from the NBC show.
"Before Trump went into the presidency race, apparently NBC had fired him from The Apprentice anyway – but it got mixed up in a bit of smoke and mirrors somewhere," Lord Sugar said.
So who filled the massive Trump-shaped hole? None other than Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In September 2015 it was announced The Terminator actor would be taking over for the 15th season, which proved to be the last as he quit after just one series.
Arnold Schwarzenegger replaced Trump (Getty)Ratings dropped significantly and sponsors reportedly dropped out due to Trump's involvement behind-the-scenes as an executive producer.
Slamming Trump as "baggage", he said: "It's not about the show, because everyone I ran into came up to me and said, 'I love the show... but I turned it off because as soon as I read Trump's name I'm outta there!'
"When people found out that Trump was still involved as executive producer and was still receiving money from the show, then half the people (started) boycotting it."
As you can imagine, Trump saw it very differently.
"Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t voluntarily leaving the Apprentice, he was fired by his bad (pathetic) ratings, not by me," he tweeted. "Sad end to great show."
This started a row between the pair, with Arnie replying: "You should think about hiring a new joke writer and a fact checker."
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