Stuart Pinfold

New BBC fakery scam from a 'love-rat'? Hardly...

Had a call from one of the UK tabloid papers today fishing for information on Ian Stringer, my colleague and a candidate on the new series of The Apprentice, who has got himself into a bit of trouble when the press found out his name - and discovered he worked for BBC Three Counties Radio.

Following the flurry of emails sent round to Three Counties staff about referring all calls from the media to the BBC press office, combined with the fact that this reporter woke me up while I was sleeping between this week's night shifts, I was in no position to comment - particularly bearing in mind the rough ride that has (predictably) been given to Ian over the last few weeks.

So: Tabloids don't believe the BBC when they say that Ian quit his part-time radio sports job to appear in The Apprentice and make a big deal about a new 'trust' scandal, then have another go at him for quitting his job to appear in the show and not being able to afford mortgage repayments...

Here's the facts as I understand them:

- Ian was not working for the BBC when he applied to be on the show.

- He was working part-time for 3CR when he was selected to be a candidate. He declared his new position, and the independent production company that makes The Apprentice were happy to proceed, as long as Ian quit his job at the BBC. He did, for the duration of the show recordings.

- After recording, Ian applied, and got, a full-time position at 3CR as a combined sports reporter, news reporter and Broadcast Assistant.

- Months later, when the series had been edited and prepared ready for transmission, the production company released the names of the candidates - prompting research from the press and the discovery of Ian's work position.

I honestly don't know, but I imagine that if Ian's still working in BBC local radio months after filming ended, he probably didn't win the series.

The Apprentice starts tomorrow, Wednesday 26th March 2008, on BBC1 at 9pm.

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