Tim Campbell, star of The Apprentice and series one winner, has shed light on the behind-the-scenes camaraderie involving himself, Lord Sugar and Karren Brady that viewers are never privy to.

The much-anticipated season 19 of The Apprentice is gearing up, with a new group of 18 self-assured hopefuls eager to persuade the business heavyweights that they deserve a staggering £250,000 investment and mentorship from none other than Lord Sugar.

Once more, the formidable billionaire tycoon will take charge, flanked by his loyal counsellors Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell, as they oversee the competitive proceedings.

A staple of each episode is the nail-biting boardroom session where contestants' efforts are rigorously evaluated by the trio, resulting in at least one candidate being eliminated.

Though the primary tension typically arises amongst those vying for Lord Sugar's favour, there's an undercurrent of drama among the judges whenever filming ceases.

Talking to the Mirror, Campbell divulged: "We're very lucky. Lord Sugar and Baroness Brady are very, very good friends.

"They've spent holidays together and spent a lot of time and I've had the very fortunate experience of working for him directly.

"He was at my wedding, we've had dinner several times afterwards so we definitely do hang out but the most interesting time is when we're hanging out in the boardroom and we're thinking about what the football scores are going to be.

"As you might know, Lord Sugar is a Tottenham fan through and through, Karren is obviously West Ham, if you cut her in half she'd be claret and blue and I'm a Liverpool fan."

"So some days when we're in the boardroom and there's a match going on or there's a match happened, as soon as we're finished in the boardroom, we're all checking phones.

"And llo and behold if any of us is playing each other and it's not gone well, that's when it can get a bit interesting. That's when the real stuff happens."

A teaser has since been released for the first episode of The Apprentice season 19: "Lord Sugar's candidates are sent to Austria to sell and run Alpine tours.

"Poor sales and bullish negotiations mean it's auf Wiedersehen for one candidate.

The Apprentice season 19 premieres on Thursday, January 30, at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.