Apprentice losers may end up real winners as finalists prepare for boardroom showdown

Wannabee tycoons Claire Young, Alex Wotherspoon, Helene Speight and Lee McQueen will fight it out for one more time on Wednesday night's finale.

But despite one of them being handed a six-figure job in Sir Alan Sugar's empire, it may in fact be the others who end up the real winners.

Then there were four: Apprentice finalists Lee McQueen, Claire Young, Helene Speight and Alex Wotherspoon at a photo call in London today

While victory brings a degree of obscurity in being tucked away in an office, many of the others are already planning their 'media careers'.

Tim Campbell, Michelle Dewberry and Simon Ambrose have all previously won the programme.

But in reality people are more likely to recall the names of Katie Hopkins, Ruth Badger and Tre Azam, who have all cashed in after appearing on the show.

Katie Hopkins appeared on the last series of I'm A Celebrity, earning herself thousands, alongside numerous other TV appearances.

Previous runner-up Ruth Badger had her own show on Sky One, Badger or Bust, last year and has set up her own business consultancy.

Among the other contestants to have used the show to launch themselves on to the public are Tre Azam and James Max.

Max, who was a semi-finalist on the first series of the show now presents business updates on Talksport radio station and has a weekly show on LBC.

Azam has his own radio show on London's LBC and brands himself a 'superstar in his own rights'.

Who will be hired? Only one contestant will go on to land a job with Sir Alan Sugar's

When interviewed about her plans for the future Lucinda Ledgerwood, who was axed last week, said she wanted a new start with a career in the media.

In this week's final showdown the four contestants will be split into two teams and tasked with designing and manufacturing a new men's fragrance.

Helene will team up with Alex, while Claire and Lee will go up against them. Sir Alan will choose between the winning pair for the overall champion.

In traditional Apprentice style, the two teams, called Roulette and Duel, will be helped by an army of fired candidates.

They will have to impress Sir Alan with their 'creative, strategic and presentation skills' in front of a daunting audience of industry experts.

The series has been a huge success regularly drawing over seven million viewers on BBC One and around 3 million viewers for You’re Fired on BBC Two.

The Apprentice final airs on Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One.