The Apprentice: You're Fired is a companion discussion programme, aired alongside The Apprentice since 2006, created by Mark Burnett for the BBC. The programme, initially shown on BBC Three before moving to BBC Two in 2007, focuses on interviews between the host and panel of guests, with a prominent candidate from the latest episode of the main programme that had been broadcast, often mixing general discussion, expert opinion and interviews, with highlight clips (unedited and edited) and small sketches designed for comedic effect. The programme is currently hosted by Tom Allen since 2019; over the course of its broadcast history, it has been hosted by Adrian Chiles, Dara Ó Briain, Jack Dee, and Rhod Gilbert.
...You're Fired operates on a similar format to that of companion discussion programmes Big Brother's Little Brother and Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two, although differs in that candidates interviewed on the programme are given gifts, while the final episode of each series, dubbed The Apprentice: You're Hired, coincides with the final episode of The Apprentice and features interviews with the runner-up and winner, alongside Lord Sugar himself, a reunion of former candidates, and highlights from that year's competition. Since 2008, You're Hired is aired as part of two-hour crossover finale special with The Apprentice.
History
Following the decision by the BBC to commission a second series of The Apprentice, plans were made in December 2005 to create a spin-off companion show to run alongside the programme, similar in line to Big Brother's Little Brother and Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two, under the subtitle of You're Fired! Football and business presenter Adrian Chiles was brought in to host during its first run on BBC Three, with it airing alongside the second series of the main programme, right after the main programme on 22 February 2006. After the spin-off's first series, the BBC decided to move the companion show to BBC Two, after it had decided to move The Apprentice to BBC One in order for it to be viewed by a mainstream audience. Chiles remained as the host following the move until the end of its fourth series, when he decided to leave the BBC upon signing a deal to work on programmes for ITV. Following his departure from You're Fired!, the broadcaster unveiled comedian Dara Ó Briain as his replacement, who hosted the show from the fifth series, until leaving after the ninth series to focus upon a comedy he was planning.
After Ó Briain's departure, the production team undertook work to improve the show's set - much of this work including redesigning it to be brighter, incorporating more audience seats behind the main stage, and switching from using a large boardroom-styled table to a large desk shared between the host and the interviewed candidate, while providing chairs and small tables for the panel. In addition to this, the show announced an amendment to the host-panel format of the show; along with the news on 11 September 2015 that comedian Jack Dee would be the new host for the tenth series, it was also revealed that the show would feature only two guest panellists, with the third being filled by comedian Romesh Ranganathan, who acted as a regular, recurring panellist on each episode. Dee left after the tenth series had finished, due to work commitments he had made towards other comedies and a radio show, while Ranganathan was forced to drop out after his work schedule for the following year made it unlikely for him to appear in the next series. As a direct result the production team dropped the use of a regular panellist, returning to the original host-panel format, while also modifying the set - this included returning to the use of the original main stage layout, and removing the audience spaces that had been added in. In September 2016, the BBC unveiled comedian Rhod Gilbert, as the show's new host for the twelfth series; Gilbert left in 2019 and was replaced by Tom Allen.