It was the most successful final so far, beating the previous record of 8.9m viewers for last year's fourth series.
has recently been thrown into doubt following his appointment by Gordon Brown as "enterprise czar".
A peak of 10.4m people were watching when 27-year old restaurant owner Yasmina Siadatan won the chance to work for Sir Alan Sugar for a year on a £100,000 salary.
The all-female clash, in which the loser was Kate Walsh, drew a 37.8% share of all viewing in the 9pm-10pm time slot.
The scheduling bit into ITV1's ratings for the first in the third series of 'Kingdom'. The drama starring Stephen Fry as a country lawyer was watched by 4.9m and earned a 19% share, having regularly managed ratings above 5m during its last run.
ITV1 was outdone by its rival before and after 9pm. At 8pm-9pm, BBC One's 'Hope Springs' got 6m viewers and a 25.8% share while 'Stephen Tompkinson's African Balloon Adventure' scored 3.4m viewers and 14.8% share.
At 10pm 'The Apprentice: You're Hired', a documentary about the winner, pulled in 7.7m for a 35.9% share.
Earlier in the day BBC One's 12.10pm-3.20pm live coverage of the Turkish Grand Prix was watched by 4.2m viewers, giving the channel a 36.7% share.
On Saturday night, BBC One's 'Robin Hood' was beaten by ITV1's video show 'Athletes Do the Funniest Things'.
The ITV1 show delivered 4.1m viewers and a 23% share of the audience during the 6.30pm-7.30pm time slot, compared to 'Robin Hood', which drew in 4m viewers and a 22.1% share from 6.45pm-7.30pm.
BBC One's new family show 'Totally Saturday', hosted by Graham Norton, managed to hold its own against ITV1's popular drama 'Primeval' during the 7.30pm-8.30pm time slot.
'Totally Saturday' pulled in 4.31m viewers and a 21.8% share of the audience, while 'Primeval' managed 4.32m and a 21.9% share.
As usual, BBC One's 'Casualty' was a strong performer, pulling in 5.2m viewers, a 24.3% share, from 8.40pm-9.30pm.
The BBC One programme trumped ITV1's game show 'All Star Mr & Mrs', which drew in 3.8m viewers and a 17.6% share from 8.30-9.30pm
'Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow' continued BBC One's dominance, attracting 5m viewers and a 24.1% share of the audience from 9.30pm-10.15pm.
It was up against ITV1 sitcom 'Mumbai Calling', which drew in 2.2m viewers and a 10.5% share from 9.30pm-10pm.
'Big Brother', having started with 4.8m viewers on Thursday night, went on to score 2.8m on Friday at 9pm-10pm, 1.9m on Saturday at 9pm-10pm and 1.8m on Sunday at 10pm-11pm.
.jpg)
.jpg)