A Stevenage man who has been running a payroll company from Ickleford is to star in hit BBC One show The Apprentice, it has been revealed today.

Scott Saunders is among the brand new set of contestants to be put through their paces by Lord Sugar and his trusted cabal of lieutenants – Karren Brady and Claude Littner, who replaces Nick Hewer.

The 27-year-old, who has recently moved from Hitchin to Stevenage, is the director of Payroll-Supermarket.com – which has offices listed in Ickleford.

Scott will appear on the 11th series of the most brutal business on TV which returns to UK screens on Wednesday, October 14.

Senior account manager Scott was called ‘Sexy Scott’ by the Gay Times today after they remarked that: ‘The way he looks into your eyes makes you want to melt’.

He describes himself as sharp, motivated and obsessed with making his first million.

In his audition tape he asserted confidently: “My motto is: To be the best – you have to be the best.

“From a child I’ve always had this tendency to make money.

“I always put a hundred million per cent in, and I’ll work as hard as possible and learn as much as possible.

“I don’t ever doubt myself. If you doubt yourself then it’s the first step to failure – which isn’t bad as failure is always a good thing because you can succeed a lot more from doing that.

“I’m very ambitious and I’ll do anything it takes to get to where I want to be.

“I definitely think I can win The Apprentice – a hundred million per cent.

“People do say to me they’ve never met anyone like me.”