18 March 2021 – Singapore: “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” premiered across Southeast Asia, China, and India with its inaugural episode Thursday evening. The show debuted on AXN, its official Asia broadcast partner, with additional free-to-air broadcasts to follow.
ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, his Advisor Niharika Singh, ONE’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy, and Task Captain Dom Lau, ONE’s Circle and Ring Announcer, were all introduced in Episode 1 of the toughest “Apprentice” in history, which was shot in Singapore.
Meet the Candidates
The premiere also introduced the show’s 16 candidates from around the world: Alvin Ang, Clinton Tudor, Eugene Chung, Irina Chadsey, Jessica Ramella, Joy Koh, Kexin Ye, Lara Pearl Alvarez, Louie Sangalang, Monica Millington, Nazee Sajedi, Niraj Puran Rao, Paulina Purnomowati, Roman Wilson, Sho Takei, and Teirra Kamolvattanavith.
These global candidates are competing for a one-year, US$250,000 job offer to work directly under Chatri as his protege at ONE Championship.
First Physical Challenge: Relay Race
For the first time ever on “The Apprentice,” physical challenges have been included, which Chatri described as being designed to push candidates beyond their limits not just physically, but also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Chatri grouped the candidates into two teams. Roman, Paulina, Niraj, Alvin, Joy, Eugene, Lara, and Nazee made up the blue team, which became known as Team Conquest. Clinton, Kexin, Jessica, Teirra, Irina, Sho, Monica, and Louie made up the red team, which became known as Team Valor.
The teams competed in a relay race that featured escalating degrees of toughness, with Louie propelling Team Valor to victory.
First Business Challenge: “ONE at Home” Fan Experience
The drama shifted to the boardroom, where the candidates competed in their first business challenge. Nazee of Team Conquest and Clinton of Team Valor were chosen as Project Managers to lead strategy and implementation.
The teams were tasked with curating a “ONE at Home” essentials kit, featuring a bundle of ONE Championship merchandise for fans. Each team was also asked to create a marketing plan that would be pitched to Chatri and Niharika.
Clashing personalities dominated the cutting-room floor, as each team scrambled to piece together its final product.
Saved from the Chopping Block
In the end, Team Valor took home another victory. With Team Conquest losing the challenge, Nazee, Alvin, and Lara were sent to the chopping block, where they were grilled by Chatri on their performances.
In the biggest surprise of the episode, Chatri revealed this was a non-elimination challenge, and that no candidate would be sent home.
Episode 1 of “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” set the stage for the most unique and exciting iteration of the hit reality franchise to date.
More information on the Apprentice and “How to Watch” can be found at:
https://www.onefc.com/the-apprentice
For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit https://www.onefc.com/about-us/, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.
About ONE Championship™
ONE Championship (ONE) is the largest global sports media property in Asian history. Headquartered in Singapore, ONE is the world’s largest martial arts organization, hosting bouts across all styles of martial arts such as mixed martial arts, Muay Thai, kickboxing, and more. ONE hosts the biggest sports entertainment events across Asia, featuring some of the world’s best martial artists and world champions on the largest global media broadcast in Asia. ONE Esports, a subsidiary of ONE Championship, runs Asia’s largest global esports Championship Series with some of the biggest blockbuster game titles in the world. With a focus on both martial arts and esports, ONE Championship is currently the largest producer of millennial live sports content in Asia. In addition to its digital platforms, ONE Championship broadcasts across 150+ countries with some of the largest global free-to-air and digital broadcasters, including Star Sports, iQIYI, TV5, Astro, ClaroSports, Startimes, Fox Sports, Thairath TV, Turner Sports, Skynet, Mediacorp, Great Sports, Mediaset Italia, ProSiebenSat.1, Dubai Sports, and more.
