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Sir Alan Sugar has suggested Thursday be a National Happy Day. Speaking in a GMTV interview about the new series of The Apprentice, he called for optimism in the UK press, at least one day a week, for the next few months.

Viewers who enjoyed the previous offering from The Apprentice will be tuning into the show for the next 12 weeks to see how the contestant fare with their tasks, set by their master and mentor, ‘Sir Alan’. Mr Sugar also spoke of his opinions of the economy and offered advice to viewers of how to best cope with the situation.

When asked whether first impressions count when selecting the contestants for the show, Sir Alan replied;

“You can only really tell what theyre like when it gets down to business, so Ive learned a long time ago that one shouldnt really do things on first reactions, and I think even the viewers will find that, because as you start to see them youll warm to somebody, youll dislike somebody, and then as the weeks go on, youll change your opinion.

When asked about reports that the shows producers had made that Sir Alan was going to be ‘funny and compassionate sweet and lovely’ in the 5th series, Sir Alan replied

Sir Alan replied with a wry smile Well, I wouldnt hold your breath for that one,

Mr Sugar was then asked how he would deal with the tough economic situation

First of all, we should all stop moaning, and if possible stop reading the newspapers who continue to report doom and gloom. Were in a tough time theres no question of it. The good news is having seen these things happen over the course of 40 years of business is that we will be getting out of it.

Mr Sugar, whose personal wealth is estimated at 830m, said that he has all of the national papers delivered every morning;

“If you wanna get depressed you read the headlines, because it seems thats the kind of journalism we have in this country. Perhaps we can have a National Happy Day. Maybe we should make Thursday a National Happy Day where newspapers are banned from reporting depressing headlines in them, and they perhaps, should take the forefront in this, together with your good self also (to Kate Garraway), you should start off nice and happy. Maybe we should make it Thursday? National Happy Day, for the next few months.”

The Apprentice will be on Wednesday nights 9.00pm on BBC 1 for the next 12 weeks