Lord Alan Sugar is once again on the hunt for a new business partner as popular BBC series, The Apprentice, makes its long-awaited return to screens. This year’s candidates have now been revealed - Find out about the full line up here.
Having first aired in 2005, there have now been 17 series of The Apprentice. In the show, a group of businesspeople compete in a series of business-related challenges set by Lord Sugar in a bid to win a £250,000 investment.
The series has given us countless memorable candidates - some of whom have gone on to great business success and others who have now found different careers. Here are just some of those people.
Katie Hopkins
Perhaps one of the most renowned candidates to grace the boardroom is ‘Queen of Mean’ Katie Hopkins. During her time on the show, the 47-year-old media personality left the competition of her own accord in the penultimate episode of series two. She said that the reason for this was because of childcare provision for her daughters, who were fairly young at the time.
Since leaving The Apprentice, however, Hopkins would continue to feature prominently in the media. After being fired from her original Met Office job in 2007 for appearing on The Apprentice, she would go on to appear on countless panel shows and reality TV programmes, including 8 Out of 10 Cats, Celebrity Big Brother and Loose Women. A year after her time on The Apprentice, Hopkins was even supposed to feature on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! But chose to drop out before the series began.
Known for her controversial right wing views, Hopkins has never been far away from tabloid headlines. In 2015, she deliberately gained and lost 3 stone over the course of several months, in an attempt to show that obese people can diet successfully - the venture was widely criticised.
Hopkins’ outspoken comments on Islam, multiculturalism, social class, obesity and illness (to name a few topics) would eventually lead to her being banned from social media platform Twitter in 2020 for breaking ‘abuse and hate’ rules. She had regularly used the site to spark debate and incite anger amongst her followers. Perhaps the final straw was her thoughts on Marcus Rashford’s free school meals campaign during the Covid-19 pandemic. In response, Hopkins stated that she had joined the social networking site Parler as an alternative.
While she has been banned from using Twitter, Hopkins regularly posts videos to her YouTube channel and also has an upcoming comedy tour, ‘Live, Laugh, Love’, coming up later this year. She is currently married to design manager Mark Cross and the couple share three children (two of which are from Hopkins’ first marriage).
Ryan-Mark Parsons
It’s safe to say that viewers will not forget series 15’s Ryan-Mark Parsons in a hurry. At the time, The Apprentice’s youngest-ever contestant at aged 19, Ryan-Mark compared himself to a luxury handbag upon being introduced on the series. “You see this beautiful handbag emblazoned with diamonds and the beautiful crocodile finish, but it’s actually concealing something inside and that’s what I like to bring, as well, to the table,” he said.
Despite several iconic moments, which included screaming at the top of his lungs on a rollercoaster, Ryan-Mark was fired by Lord Sugar in week eight of the competition. That wouldn’t be the end of his time in front of the cameras, though.
After leaving The Apprentice, Ryan-Mark now regularly appears in debate sections on Good Morning Britain and GB News. He also has his own column in The Daily Star and in 2022, went on the search for love in Celebs Go Dating on E4. Ryan-Mark regularly keeps his fans updated on his luxury lifestyle on his social media platforms.
Stuart Baggs
Prior to Ryan-Mark’s appearance in 2019, Stuart Baggs was formerly the youngest ever candidate on The Apprentice. During his time on the 2010 series of show, he became well-known for his cheeky boasts, including “everything I touch turns to sold. He was eventually fired in the show’s semi-final after Lord Sugar told him: “You’re full of s*** and possibly you have been, throughout the whole course of this process.”
Tragically, Baggs was found dead at his home in 2015 after suffering an asthma attack. He was 27 years old. Lord Sugar paid tribute and called him “one of the stand-out characters of The Apprentice”.
Luisa Zissman
Despite not winning her series, one person who has cashed in since her stint is Luisa Zissman, who appeared on The Apprentice in 2013. During her audition, she assured viewers that she “never accepts failure” and said that she “buys stuff, sells stuff and makes money”. She clearly impressed Lord Sugar as she came runner-up that year.
A year on from her time on The Apprentice, Luisa featured on Celebrity Big Brother and earned a six-figure sum for doing so. She finished fourth overall behind Jim Davidson, Dappy and Ollie Locke.
Luisa then launched an online bakery shop, but she put the business into liquidation in 2016 before giving birth to her second child. She ended up losing almost £200,000 of her own money. At its peak, the shop had a turnover of over £3 million and employed 30 staff.
Luisa now regularly appears on This Morning and Good Morning Britain as a guest to debate current affairs.
Lottie Lion
Appearing also on the 2019 series was Lottie Lion, who was just aged 19 at the time. Ahead of her series debut, Lottie described herself as “very cut throat” and not a pushover. This was proven true when the former librarian from Somerset reached the Final 5 of the competition.
Despite this, Lottie’s time on The Apprentice was fraught with controversy when she became embroiled in a race row. She told fellow contestant and sparring partner Lubna Farhan - whose parents are Pakistani - "Shut up, Gandhi", in a WhatsApp group for the candidates. She was quick to deny accusations of being racist, but later admitted to the Gandhi comment, insisting that it was "taken out of context".
Following the incident, Lottie lost her job as a business analyst in Bristol during the pandemic and signed up to hook-up site Seeking Arrangement to meet a sugar daddy to help her keep up her lavish lifestyle. Her time on the site came to an end after contacting police over “threats”. Fighting back tears, she previously told The Sun: “I thought maybe being on there could buy me a bag or holiday.”
Lottie came out as bisexual in September 2021 and admitted to having a ‘three month fling’ with a female Love Island star. It wouldn’t be the first Love islander that she has been associated with either, as earlier this year Lottie said that she’d rejected the advances of 2021 Islander Hugo Hammond. She recalled an incident on her TikTok account where Hugo had tried to kiss her and when she rejected him, he lost his temper and shouted at her.
Tom Bunday
This Apprentice star appeared on the 13th series, which was ultimately won by James White and Sarah Lynne. Upon being asked to take part on the show, Bunday declared: “There are very few people that can genuinely say they’re going to make it - but I know that I’m going to.”
After he appeared on the show, it emerged that property investor Bunday was once jailed for violent assault. He spent four months in prison in Sweden for an attack on a man who required bruises and stitches. Bunday has since spoken of his “deep regret” over the incident and now runs his own property development firm Woodworx.
Ruth Badger
Ruth Badger, aptly nicknamed ‘The Badger’ for obvious reasons, was runner-up on the second series of The Apprentice in 2006. Whilst on the show, she became an instant fan favourite and was commended for earning the ‘trust of the buyer’ by Lord Sugar.
Upon appearing on The Apprentice, Ruth’s sexuality came into question. This ultimately led to her becoming a victim of phone hacking from journalists at the News of the World, who gathered information to write articles about her private life. Following the incident, Ruth came out as lesbian and subsequently divorced her husband. She also received a payout of a suspected five figures but the exact amount has never been revealed.
Ruth now runs her own consultancy firm from her home in Manchester.
Stella English
Cast your mind back to 2010 and Stella English is an Apprentice winner who proves that winning the show is not always a good thing.
Shortly after securing the investment, Stella quit her £100,000 per year job with Lord Sugar, arguing she was used like an "overpaid lackey" and unsuccessfully attempting to sue her former boss. This ultimately led to the end of her marriage and being left with just £90 in her bank account. Speaking to The Mirror in 2013, she said: "I wish I had never gone on The Apprentice. I’m broke and on my knees. I just don’t know how I’m going to carry on."
Prior to her time on The Apprentice, Stella quit her £85,000 a year role as a manager on the trading floor of Japanese bank Daiwa when she saw an advert for The Apprentice. According to an insider, she felt like a ‘glorified PA’ when she worked with Lord Sugar. Following attempts to sue him, the business mogul said: "I’m afraid she underestimated me and her reputation is now in tatters."
Things would eventually get better for Stella when she found love with snooker player boyfriend Ali Carter in 2016. The pair had a child together in 2017 and she now, generally, steers away from the spotlight. Her social media account is private.
Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin, who shares his name with the ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ singer, won The Apprentice in 2012. During his audition for the show, the former professional wrestler said: “I’m the reflection of perfection because other people look at me and want to be me.”
What followed were many memorable moments on the show including a savage Claude Littner interview in which he called some of his statements “completely ludicrous”. It seems that Lord Sugar didn’t think that, though, and Ricky won the £250,000 investment.
Since then, Ricky has set up and expanded his own specialist recruitment consultancy using the investment from Lord Sugar - Hyper Recruitment Solutions (HRS), which focuses on mid-level to senior appointments for the science and technology industry worldwide. He is also a regular speaker in schools, universities and conferences about employability and jobs in science.
Ricky is married to long-term girlfriend Gemma and the couple have two children.
Michelle Dewberry
Michelle lasted a mere nine months at Lord Sugar’s recycling company Xenon Green after winning the second series of The Apprentice in 2006. Prior to that, she'd been working as a project manager.
After departing the business, she would then work as a strategy consultant for Tesco Mobile before establishing herself as a broadcaster, making regular appearances on Sky News and becoming one of the main panellists on the channel’s political debate programme The Pledge. In 2021, she was part of the launch team for new broadcaster GB News, fronting her own show Dewbs and Co., which airs every weeknight.
In 2017, Michelle stood in the general election as an independent candidate for Hull West and Hessle, where she grew up, but her campaign was ultimately unsuccessful.
Alana Spencer
Flying the flag for Wales on The Apprentice was 2016 winner Alana Spencer. She runs café business Ridiculously Rich, which has been on quite the journey over the years and was forced to close down two restaurants following Covid. In 2019, Alana bought back Lord Sugar's shares in Ridiculously Rich in 2019.
Last year, WalesOnline reported how Alana was rushed to hospital after falling eight feet from a ladder whilst she was setting up a new shop. You can read more about that here.
The new series of The Apprentice begins on BBC One on Thursday, January 5 at 9pm. For more showbiz and television stories get our newsletter here.
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