for Sugar's investment offer, and included a number of subtle changes to keep the format fresh such as candidates being sent abroad for the first task. The series began on 3 October 2018, and was won by Sian Gabbidon, who used her investment to launch a luxury swimwear range. Series 15 (2019) As with the previous series, the format for the fifteenth incorporated the new changes introduced, including the first task taking place abroad, the number of candidates taking part being at 16, and teams not being named until each consisted of a mix of women and men. The series began airing on 2 October 2019. The series was won by Carina Lepore, who will be using Sugar's investment to fund new stores for her "family-run" baking business across London. Series 16 (2022) The sixteenth series was originally planned for filming to begin in Spring 2020, but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at that time forced the BBC to postpone production to a later date. In lieu of a new series for their Autumn broadcast schedule, the broadcaster opted to fill the space with a special compilation series of highlights from previous series. In May 2021, it was announced that filming for the sixteenth series would take place later in the year, with the new series intended for broadcast on 6 January 2022. Series 17 (2023) This is the current series now airing. Filming Schedule Every series of The Apprentice is pre-recorded before its broadcast – although the show's twelve-week broadcast schedule gives the impressions that each episode was filmed over a period of 12 weeks, in reality, each series' filming schedule is conducted within a two-month period, a few months before the show is to be aired. While the candidates do have a break between tasks to relax within the large rented house or apartment with which they are provided by the production team for the duration of the competition, each task is generally performed with a much closer time-frame than it appears on the programme. Compared to the US series, the British version has a more rigid format that requires the production team to provide enough footage for each series, that is to be then incorporated into twelve separate episodes. Early rules in filming meant that multiple firings were not allowed in the first two series, a fact that was acknowledged as an issue by Sugar when