The Apprentice 2015 winner Joseph Valente announced 15 minutes early leading to barrage of furious tweets

'I cannot believe you just tweeted that. I am so furious'

John Valente, winner of The Apprentice 2015 (John Stillwell/PA)

As Christmas draws ever closer, this year’s reality TV shows are coming to an end. First it was I’m A Celebrity and The X Factor, then Strictly Come Dancing and The Apprentice.

The latter took place late on Sunday night, running late due to BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year going on an extra 15 minutes.

While there were no initial problems, at the 10 o’clock mark - when the show was supposed to end but didn’t - one publisher accidentally Tweeted out the name of the winning contestant.

Radio Times posted from their account “Joseph Valente wins #TheApprentice: ‘I never had any doubts’” along with a link to their winner’s interview.

Unfortunately, the Tweet had been scheduled before the show had been pushed back, meaning many viewers following The Apprentice on social media prematurely found out who Lord Sugar was hiring.

As you may suspect, people were very angry, venting their frustration on Twitter all while the boardroom were discussing whether Valente or Vana Koutsomitis should be invested in.

The initial Tweet remains up, as well as the various responses that include one person saying “Seriously, the funniest Twitter c**k up this year”.

Radio Times Editor Ben Preston has since apologised for the scheduled Tweet, admitting: “Apologies, we messed up badly…”

The Apprentice, series 12, has yet to be confirmed by the BBC but applications for opened in November.