MOVE over Alan Sugar, there’s a new TV boss in town – and his skills are quite literally out of this world.

Psychic Tony Stockwell, 40, has been taking on his own apprentices for a new Sky television show.

Tony’s Psychic Academy follows a similar format to the hit BBC series the Apprentice, fronted by Brentwood millionaire Alan Sugar, with six budding mediums competing to be Tony’s apprentice.

The series, which starts on the Biography Channel this week, will show the whole process of selecting the apprentices from thousands of hopefuls.

Tony, 40, from Wickford, said: “I don’t think I was as harsh as Alan Sugar, but I don’t know how I’ll come across.

“You will definitely see me getting frustrated with the apprentices at times.”

Tony, who has been a medium for 20 years, teaches the apprentices how to talk to the dead, learn the art of psychic detection and read people’s minds.

He also believes psychic ability is more common than most people think.

He said: “If someone has a basic ability you can really work with that to hone the skill.

“We started off with basic stuff like reading tea leaves and looking into crystal balls before taking them out on to the High Street in Peckham to confront strangers and see if they could give them an accurate reading.”

Born in Walthamstow, Tony moved to Canvey when he was four and lived there for 20 years before moving to Wickford, where he now runs a psychic school in the High Street.

He has also appeared in Living TV’s Street Psychic, Psychic School and Zone Reality TV’s Psychic Private Eyes, and has had three books published.

Tony, a former pupil at Canvey’s Furtherwick Park school, is so busy at the moment he is very keen for an apprentice to take on some of his workload.

He said: “I picked the one with the most potential.

“They are now doing more development work with me, in the hope they can eventually work alongside me.”

The show starts at 9pm this Thursday.