Lord Alan Sugar has undergone an urgent heart operation in the US.

Lord Sugar

Lord Sugar

The 69-year-old businessman, who stars on the BBC show 'The Apprentice', was fitted with a tube last month during his winter break in Florida after tests showed one of his arteries had narrowed, meaning he urgently needed the medical procedure.

However, Lord Sugar's spokesman Andrew Bloch has played down the severity of the problem, revealing he was back on form within days.

He said: "He was on the mend within a day and cleared to resume exercise after a week.

"He's in perfect medical health and plays tennis and rides his bike for 40 miles regularly."

The procedure was completed under local anaesthetic and Lord Sugar was discharged from hospital the next day, according to The Sun newspaper.

Meanwhile, Lord Sugar recently revealed he wanted to quit 'The Apprentice' because he hated having to employ the winner.

The businessman said the original prize, which gave one contestant a spot in his multi-national company, infuriated his staff so much that he was forced to give the BBC an ultimatum in 2011.

He said: "It wasn't a good idea and that was it. I said, 'I'm not doing that any more'. Giving someone a job was turning out to be quite difficult.

"It was problematic as far as other employees were concerned. You don't just create a job out of thin air. Otherwise you don't have a good business, do you? There was never an empty job.

"I would frankly not be still doing this if I hadn't changed the format."


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