COMEDIAN Jack Dee has been hired as the new host of The Apprentice spin-off show, You're Fired.

The 53-year-old funnyman, who went to school in Winchester and attended Peter Symonds College, will step into Dara O'Briain's shoes to front the BBC2 companion show, which airs after the main show on BBC1.

''I'm very much looking forward to hosting You're Fired and hope that the luckless candidates will see me as the friendly face at the end of a difficult time in their lives,'' Dee said.

Dee will be joined by fellow comic Romesh Ranganathan, who will be a regular on the panel as they speak to the booted candidate each week.

Ranganathan, 37, said: ''As a massive fan of The Apprentice, this is very exciting for me.

''I love You're Fired and am looking forward to putting all the questions to the candidates that people at home want to see asked. I also have a number of business proposals of my own that I think Lord (Alan) Sugar will be pretty interested in...''

He tweeted: ''Excited to announce that You're Fired.''

O'Briain announced he was stepping down from You're Fired in January, after five years of hosting the show, so he can spend time on his own comedy.

He said: ''After five years hosting You're Fired, I've decided to pass the chair on to someone else. In that time I've interviewed 84 wannabe apprentices.

''If I interview any more, I'll turn into Claude Littner. Mainly though, I'm back on tour again this year and I'd like to enjoy getting laughs off my own incompetence for a while.''

Claude Littner has replaced Nick Hewer as Lord Sugar's new adviser, alongside Karren Brady.

The new series of The Apprentice and You're Fired will return to BBC later this year.