Lord Alan Sugar hadn't envisioned a future for The Apprentice, he's now admitted.

The BBC competition launched back in 2005, and this year features an all-female final, with Karishma Vijay going head-to-head with Pascha Myhill.

Prior to the finale being broadcast, Lord Sugar joined presenter Angela Scanlon to look back on the programme's achievements.

When questioned whether he anticipated reaching this milestone on the show, marking two decades on air, Lord Sugar responded: "Honestly speaking, no. Was it 2005 or something like that? 2004, when we recorded the first one, and I thought, 'it's been great, exciting, interesting', but never, ever thought it would run on for this long."

Reflecting on a photograph of himself from that inaugural series, the business tycoon joked that he was "a handsome fella" and revealed the secret behind his appearance at 79, reports the Mirror.

"I do a lot of exercise, I suppose, and running the businesses," he said.

Initially, Lord Sugar had been seeking to offer winners opportunities to work for him, whereas he now backs their own ventures.

"The original format was that people would come to work for me, and I would give them a six-figure job, and back in 2005, a six-figure job was quite a lot of money, so you can imagine the resentment and possible disruption it caused within my company," he explained.

"So I changed it after about series six to this 50/50 business deal, which is great, that's what's really kept me at it.

"The calibre of the winners are different because they're entrepreneurs, they're my partners, and as I say to them, 'You're the expert, you're the one that knows what you're supposed to be doing in this business, I'm just there to tell you what not to do'."

He added: "I'm looking for someone whose got that entrepreneurial spirit, some spark of brilliance."

This follows Lord Sugar addressing the future of The Apprentice, confirming the programme will carry on for at least several more years.

Speaking to Amol Rajan last year, Lord Sugar said he was "absolutely" proud of the show's legacy, and that, at the time, he had signed to do three more series.

He said: "Listen, when I took the job on of The Apprentice, I was already a multi-millionaire. I didn't do it for the money."

Earlier this year, he joked he got an "electronic Zimmer frame" from the BBC after signing a deal to continue the series into his 80s.

He told The Mirror: "Part of the contract is the BBC has got to provide me with an electronic Zimmer frame! I mean, three years takes me to about 82 I suppose, the time I'm finished, but I'll carry on as long as the BBC want me to and I will know personally when it's time for me to kind of hang up my finger, if you know what I mean.

"As the footballers say, they hang up their boots, hang up my finger or something. I'm happy about it. I'm a very fit person."

The finale of The Apprentice airs tonight at 21:00 on BBC One and iPlayer with The Apprentice: Unfinished Business airing straight after on BBC Two and iPlayer.