Apprentices take their sizzle to the streets

Members of the women's team fire up the barbecue in a challenge to beat the men. Photo / Janna Dixon

The young moguls vying for the top spot as Terry Serepisos' deputy on the Apprentice have kicked off the competition with a sausage sizzle.

The 14 contestants for the new TV2 show - seven men and seven women - were accompanied by film crews as they went about setting up their first "business" challenge in Auckland on Thursday.

The female team, dressed in matching pink polo shirts, set up a barbecue in Freyberg Square near High St to sell $2.50 hotdogs to passing pedestrians.

While some girls cooked, others approached business-types to buy a hotdog and handed out flyers to others telling people to "tell your whole office about it".

A man connected with the show, who described himself as an "adviser" to the team, said the money they made would "go somewhere" once the challenge was over.

The girls would also need to make more money than the men's team, who were elsewhere in Auckland doing a similar challenge.

The challenges are dictated by Serepisos - the Kiwi answer to the US show's Donald Trump - every week, before bringing the losing team into the boardroom.

The weakest member of the losing team will be "fired" by the Wellington property developer and Phoenix Football Club owner, until just one person remains.

Staying in the CityLife Hotel on Queen St, the contestants would be subject to "hard and fast" challenges each week, according to a source.

The show will air on TV2 in February next year.