Ha ha, I think you might be on to something here you know! I'm not gonna lie, I'd watch.

Me too!

I reckon it will be another proven entrepreneur. Possibly that Richard "Innocent" bloke - he's done a few programs now.

I doubt it will be a past contestant.

James Max (Series 1 the Wolf Jacket guy) would be a good replacement.

He was a lot about business being in Banking, Finance, Real Estate business, also business journalist, broadcaster, an all round good personality guy & he'll put some fun I'm sure in the process & really does know about various businesses.

That old smoothie? Sorry, couldn't resist.

The decision will clearly signal whether this is a serious business program or has completely declined into light entertainment.

Not Ricky please. I would hope that it will be someone with long experience in industry, someone who has considerable personal standing to add weight to their pronouncements. I don't think Ricky has this.

I find Tom strangely attractive, a bit Martin Sheen. I don't think it should be him or Ricky though. Needs someone who has been in business for a lot longer than those two.

I think the Innocent Smoothie guy would be a good one. Or Jo Malone?

Shugga won't want any of his winners "distracted" from earning him money, and won't want any "losers" getting a profile.

The replacement will need to be able to blend into the background so as not to overpower the candidates but have the ability to be able to tell them off should they be about to break the law like karen did this year while having a very good memory and that ability to be almost sum up the entire event with a look

Indeed. The ideal person has to have a long pedigree so that their observations carry weight. That excludes Ricky. They also need to be able to work unobtrusively yet be able to sum up in a few words to camera (or by a facial expression) their feelings during the task.

The thing with Nick is that he has something of James Bond about him - a charismatic and well dressed English gent but at the same time a silent assassin! He'll be very hard to replace. Similarly I think Karen is a very poor replacement for Margaret, and the more she tries to build her part the worse she gets.

Margaret and Nick were part of the fabric of the UK Apprentice as they are so 'British', understated yet lethal, with cultural connections.

Unfortunately they are one-offs and impossible to replace with someone equivalent.

Mike Soutar or Bordan Tkachuk

Keep in mind Nick Hewer isn't a businessman, he's a PR guy. They don't necessarily need business experience, they need recruitment experience.

Hopkins.

While she's out in the street with the candidates, she could approach members of the public and tell them they're too fat to get a job or that their kid's name is common as muck.

Unless ISIS get her first, which is, according to her, a distinct possibility.

I think Ricky would probably be better than the other familiar faces - and I definitely think Margaret's had her day - but I'd probably prefer to see a fresh face and a fresh perspective.

Unless the choice is awful, I doubt it'll matter too much to me, since the advisor's role in the show is generally ancillary anyway. I'd rather see the format crevasse ironed out as a priority, though I'll still watch (and don't expect that issue to go away anytime soon).

I'm not sure whether you're joking or not? The Apprentice is not a serious business show.

I think Andy Parsons would get plenty of mileage if he got the job!

They could get Luisa Zussmann to shag the fired candidate, whilst testing out the Gold family product offerings

From whose perspective? As a pretty dedicated viewer I consider it to be so, though I realise that other viewers may not hold the same viewpoint.

I think using Ricky Martin as an interviewer in the last series was a trial for Nick's job.

Claude Littner is to be the replacement for Nick - confirmed on twitter