The Apprentice forced to halt filming as Lord Sugar rushes to help ill candidate

BBC's The Apprentice was secretly forced to 'pause filming' during the current series of the show, as one axed contestant was taken ill.

Nadia Suliaman, who was the latest casualty on Thursday night's show fell unwell while in the boardroom, as bosses decided to step in.

It came after the stars were filming the virtual pop star tasks, in which the teams went viral for their 'cringe' characters. In the days prior to the task, Nadia had been suffering from an illness - but things got worse when the candidates headed into the tense boardroom.

Nadia's 'constant coughing' appeared to cause a disruption in filming with Lord Sugar, Baroness Brady and Tim Campbell, as producers decided to halt filming early on in the series. Speaking on the moment to The Sun, Nadia revealed she got "quite ill in episode two."

"I was coughing. I was literally coughing so much that I was like splattering and they had to stop production because you know I was ill," she said.

Despite the tough love often displayed by Lord Sugar in the boardroom, Nadia shared a touching moment that happened off-camera, reports the Mirror.

"This is such a kind thing but it just stuck with me. Lord Sugar just like threw across the table a throat lozenger to me [sic]," she shared. It wasn't only Lord Sugar who looked after the star, as she also revealed Baroness Brady offered her a tissue.

Thursday night's episode saw Nadia unceremoniously axed from the show in what's been dubbed one of the quickest firings ever. Tasked with turning either potatoes or tomatoes into profit, the candidates had to whip up a dish for public and corporate sale—Nadia opted for an overpriced sausage and mash offering, resulting in a £73.40 loss for her team.

Despite the opportunity to bring back two colleagues to the boardroom, Lord Sugar dismissed her without a second thought.

In a conversation with the Mirror reflecting on her abrupt departure, Nadia expressed feeling "sad" because she believes the edit didn't portray her favourably. She questioned the representation of events, saying: "No. I've got to be honest, I was a bit gutted. I was like, whoa, everything is quite bad towards me."

Her fellow contestants consoled her, insisting: "Oh no, you were so good at motivating us, you were militant in the kitchen because you had to, we were up against time constraints as well."

Reflecting on the challenge, Nadia admitted: "It's such a hard task, I'm not just saying that, it really was."

The Apprentice continues next Thursday at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer