Beauty entrepreneur Amy Anzel was accused of 'telling a whopper' when she told Lord Alan Sugar that she sang the jingles for Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Burger King on this year's series of The Apprentice. It seemed Lord Sugar didn’t believe a word of it, or was keen to use one of his famous puns, after the business magnate brought up candidate Amy's past as a child star.
Lord Sugar adopted a disbelieving tone when he challenged her in the boardroom in the first episode of the 2022 series back in January. "You sang the jingle for Burger King is that right?" he asked.
And, reeling off a list household names as her fellow competitors looked on, Amy told him: "Yes. McDonald's Burger King, Coca-Cola, I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing ..." But an unconvinced Lord Sugar asked "is that true or is that a whopper?" before the boardroom of contestants burst into laughter.
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The original Coca-Cola ad featuring the song I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing was released in 1971 before Amy, 49, was born. But in 1980 she appeared in a Christmassy remake of the classic commercial.
"I was in community theatre and at the age of nine or 10 I was in The Sound of Music and Annie. I loved performing," explained Amy, who became a child voice-over actor and singer while growing up in New York. "I was scouted to do jingles and voiceovers and at the age of 10 or 11 I was in adverts for Coca-Cola and Burger King."
Amy, who was shown the door by Lord Sugar in the sixth week of the long-running BBC business contest, runs Hollywood Browzer Beauty, a beauty tools brand that specialises in dermaplaning, hair removal and exfoliation tools. She is now aiming for her business to become as big as Coca-Cola.
The mother-of-one told us: "After The Apprentice I have bigger dreams. I want Hollywood Browzer to be like Coca-Cola in the beauty world."
Reflecting on her time after being fired from the contest, which saw 16 candidates battle it out to win £250,000-worth of investment, she said: "I have just made lemonade out of lemons. So many people have approached me in the street and said 'we so wanted you to win' and I'm so grateful for their support. Since the show I've been scaling up my business."
Amy has previously slammed her experience on The Apprentice, saying she sought therapy after suffering from anxiety and depression after being fired. She was left baffled after Lord Sugar took a dig at her not becoming a project manager during her time on the show, despite being sub team leader in four out of six tasks, and says she believes she didn't get a fair chance.
Lord Sugar referenced how New Yorker Amy had lived in Los Angeles and asked her if she was an 'LA Dodger'. He sniped: "You dodged the project management side of things, you've been here six weeks to show that you can do something, and you haven't shown me you can do something. And so it is with regret that you're fired. Thank you."
Amy claimed being 'too vocal' on Twitter led her to being not being invited to the 'You're Fired', a celebratory spin-off show on BBC Two after the winner Harpreet Kaur was declared. According to a source for The Apprentice, invitations to You’re Hired are 'always discretionary and never guaranteed'.
But Amy appeared in the gripping finale on runner-up Kathryn Burn's team for her online pyjama business, creating and starring in a heart-warming ad for her brand. Amy was pleased to see Harpreet and Kathryn in the final after becoming close friends with both ladies duing the process.
Amy, who lives in London, is a regular visitor to Manchester. Her celeb pals in the city include Coronation Street stars Katie McGlynn, Lisa George and Victoria Ekanoye and model Rhian Sugden.
