“You’re Fired!” Behind The Scenes Of The Apprentice And What It Was Really Like On The Show

Producers Told The Contestants It Wasn’t a Reality Show

Photo by NBC

The Apprentice is clearly a reality show, but that’s far from how the producers portrayed it to the contestants. According to season six contestant, Jenn Hoffman, the series was “strenuously framed to us as a job interview.”

In an interview with Esquire, Hoffman said she and the other contestants were held to a strict code of behavior which included acting professionally at all times. They also weren’t allowed to use the word “show” under any circumstance and would be pulled off camera and reminded it was a “job interview” instead. Producers wanted contestants to remember they weren’t on one of the “grittier” reality shows and needed to act accordingly.