The penultimate instalment of the BBC One reality show was watched by 7.5m, or 33.1% of the total viewing audience, from 9pm.
In the same slot on ITV1 The Great British Body, which has been stripped over three days, drew a feeble 2.5m (11.2%).
Channel 4 came very close to its commercial rival with 2.4m (10.4%) watching River Cottage Spring. The additional 275,000 who watched on C4+1 put the show ahead of ITV1.
On BBC Two at 9pm a Coast repeat attracted 2.1m (9.4%), while Five's The Hotel Inspector Revisits was seen by 632,000 (2.8%).
> DS coverage of The Apprentice
