The Apprentice has done it again: Extremely offensive tweets surface from new contestant

Across more than 20 seasons, The Apprentice has delivered plenty of boardroom meltdowns, ill-judged pitches and Lord Sugar one-liners, but one thing it seems particularly bad at shaking is contestants with deeply questionable tweets and social media histories.

And yes, it’s happened again. Honestly, you’d think they’d have learned by now.

As the new series launched on Thursday, offensive tweets posted by contestant Levi Hodgetts-Hague have resurfaced, prompting the BBC to admit it had no idea the posts existed and to demand tougher background checks from the show’s production company.

BBC

The historic tweets, posted around ten years ago, reportedly describe Muslims as “dirty”, refer to women as “slags” and “dogs”, labelled police officers “pigs”, and express support for far-right activist Tommy Robinson. In several posts, Hodgetts-Hague also urged British people to “make a stand” against Islam.

In one message, written in response to the extradition of radical cleric Abu Hamza to the US, he allegedly wrote: “Thank f*** that extremist dirty Muslim preacher getting took out of this country. Just a waste of money and waste of space. F*** off.”

Other posts are said to praise Tommy Robinson and criticise what he called being labelled “racist” for holding “British beliefs”, alongside hashtags such as #NoSharia.

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A post shared by Levi Hague (@levihagueofficial)

A BBC spokesperson said the corporation was “completely unaware” of the tweets and described them as “abhorrent”, adding that the independent production company had been asked to fully review its vetting procedures.

“The views presented are totally unacceptable and we are taking this extremely seriously,” the spokesperson said, adding that “the process has clearly failed in this instance”.

Which, awkwardly, is not exactly a new problem for the Lord Sugar-fronted show.

Earlier this year, Dr Asif Munaf, a contestant from the 2024 series, was struck off the medical register after a tribunal found he had posted 36 antisemitic, racist and sexist messages online. That revelation raised serious questions about how thoroughly The Apprentice actually checks its candidates before sending them on national television.

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A post shared by Levi Hague (@levihagueofficial)

The resurfaced posts from Hodgetts-Hague also include several attacking police officers following an arrest in August 2012, referring to them as “pigs” and complaining they had ripped his “£100 jeans”. In other messages, he criticised his South Yorkshire hometown of Doncaster, calling it the “home of skets and badman wannabes”, and made disparaging comments about women from the area.

Hodgetts-Hague has since apologised, saying he “takes full accountability” for the posts and insisting they do not reflect who he is today. He said he joined the RAF shortly after making the tweets “in an effort to make something of myself”, adding that the experience played a “significant role” in his personal growth.

“I would like to apologise for my actions, as well as to the production team for failing to bring this account to their attention,” he said in a statement to BBC News. His social media account has now been deleted.

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Featured image credit: BBC, Instagram