The Apprentice candidate Lottie Lion accuses BBC of ‘abandoning’ her after ‘horrific’ portrayal in series

Channel denies claims and says ‘network of support’ is available to her

Fired Apprentice candidate Lottie Lion has accused the BBC of “abandoning” her after portraying her in a “horrific” way in the reality series.

Following her elimination in last night’s episode (11 December), it was revealed Lion, 19, had been banned from taking part in press interviews after her firing. Her scheduled appearance on aftershow You’re Fired was also cancelled.

The librarian, who lives in Somerset, has accused the broadcaster of leaving her “high and dry” and claims the channel’s decision came after her interview with The Sun last week, which saw her criticise BBC bosses for the way she has been treated in the wake of a race storm.

Earlier this series, it was reported that Lion referred to fellow contestant Lubna Farhan as “Gandhi” in a WhatsApp group chat ahead of the premiere of this year’s series.

Lion admitted to sending the message but continues to claim that everyone in the group chat – including Farhan, whose parents hail from Pakistan – laughed off her comment at the time.

“The BBC has portrayed me in this horrendous way, they’ve left me high and dry,” she told the Daily Mail. “They told me that they knew I wasn’t a racist and yet went to the papers and said, “Yes, we don’t condone what Lottie’s done.’”

She added: “So I went to do an interview to get my point across and they [BBC] just sent me an email at 8.30pm the day before I was due to come up to London and they said, ‘Lottie, we just can’t help you any more’. So they have basically abandoned me when they’ve caused the situation for me in the first place.”

Lion, who previously said she was “spat on” by a member of public, said she wished she had “faded into the background”

An Apprentice spokesman said: ‘Following an inquiry by the production company into the unacceptable comments made by Lottie on a private messenger service, she was informed that she would not be invited to participate in You’re Fired.

“The wellbeing of the candidates that take part in The Apprentice is of paramount importance, and we have a thorough and robust duty of care protocol in place which includes an experienced network of support for candidates before, during and after filming – all of which is still available to Lottie.

The spokesman said: ‘Lottie has also been consistently offered local support at a location convenient to her.”

The BBC said: “While this happened on a private messenger service once filming had concluded, the BBC nevertheless still expects the candidates to behave appropriately. The production company have looked into the issue and reported back, Lottie has been informed that her comments were wholly unacceptable and is in no doubt about our view on this.”

Last night’s episode saw Lord Sugar fire Lion, Lewis Ellis and Pamela Laird, which leaves Scarlett Allen-Horton and Carine Lepore as this year’s finalists.

The final will be broadcast next Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One.