A FITNESS instructor has begun her quest to be hired by Lord Sugar as the new series of The Apprentice gets underway.

Entrepreneur Katie Bulmer-Cooke, from Sunderland, is one of 20 candidates vying to win the 10th series of BBC show and the £250,000 investment which goes with it.

As the competition got underway, the confident 27-year-old said: “In business I’m like a little stealth bomber that flies under the radar and smashes the competition before they’ve even realised I’m here.”

The award-winning businesswoman launched her own successful personal training business, a franchise fitness plan called The Little Black Dress Club and a global online business called The Fit Mummy Manual, which specialises in helping new mums get their figure back after giving birth.

Her Apprentice journey got off to a successful start as she was a member of the winning girls team for the first task this evening (Tuesday), which saw them selling an array of items from a choice of hot dogs, T-shirts and coffee.

Company director Chiles Cartwright, 35, became the first candidate to be fired from this year's show after Lord Sugar failed to buy into his sales tactics.

Among those watching the Sunderland woman's TV debut were her former teachers at New College Durham, where she studied a two-year foundation degree in Sport and Exercise Studies.

Lecturer Peter Morrison, now Head of School for Sport, Business, Public Services and IT said: “She is an excellent role model and shows what can be achieved with hard work and dedication.

“We wish her all the best and are sure that Lord Sugar will be as impressed as we were with her knowledge and skills.”

The Apprentice continues tomorrow (Wednesday, October 15) at 9pm on BBC1.