Lord Alan Sugar has announced the winner of The Apprentice 2023, putting an end to his search for his future business partner.
Marnie Swindells and Rochelle Anthony competed for his £250,000 investment on Thursday, after surviving the dreaded interview phase with an all-female final five for the second year in a row.
It was revealed that Marnie had been employed, following in the footsteps of Harpreet Kaur and the first ever winner, and now Lord Sugar’s aide, Tim Campbell.
The court advocate reigned triumphant thanks to her inclusive, emotion-focused boxing gym plan, while Rochelle sought to win over the business mogul with her goal to develop her hair shop, catering to all various types of hair and giving seminars.
Lord Sugar said: ‘Marnie, it is such a crowded and competitive market. I’m thinking, “is this £250,000 down the drain?”
‘Rochelle, what worries me about you is why would your second and third branch would be popular and make me and you money?
‘It’s a tough one, but Marnie, you’re asking me to invest in something which is completely alien to me to be honest and you’ve never run a business before.
‘Rochelle, it’s opening the second one and it really is a difficult decision as to what industry I should be in.’
He finally concluded: ‘I’ve always been known to be a gambler, I’ve always been known to try new horizons so I’m going to try a new horizon… Marnie, you are going to be my business partner.’
While Marnie won, Rochelle quipped in some Instagram comments that the BBC “did her dirty.”
Marnie captioned a photo of the pair standing for the final, ‘Just two women gunning for a better life.
‘We may be in competition in this moment, but the truth is, I’m in awe of Rochelle. I look at everything she has achieved as a mum, a business owner and most importantly as a woman and I can’t help but admire her.
‘We haven’t always agreed and you saw us tussle it out a few times in the show but that’s just testament to our fire. We both know what we want and are willing to fight for it – you can’t hate us for that!
‘Of all of the candidates, I see most of myself in Rochelle – the graft, the urgency and the willingness to do whatever it takes and I can’t wait to share this arena with her tommorow!
‘We started this journey together, lets finish it together. My day one – let’s do this!’
Rochelle commented: ‘So besides and poised as ever angel! So so proud to be in the FINAL! With youuuu!! Everything! Right back atcha! So proud of your journey! Keep shining queen’.
She later added: ‘Also these pics did us dirty hahahaha. I’ll upload the ones off my cam xx’.
Marnie spoke up to Metro.co.uk about the moment she found out she had the £250,000 investment in the bag – as it truly happened off-camera.
‘Lord Sugar does let us know after who he decides to go with, so it was difficult and we were left in suspense for a little while. I really didn’t think that it was going my way,’ Marnie admitted.
‘I remember that morning that we found out thinking, “Just put me out of my misery. I know I didn’t win.” Then he gave me the shock of my life and said I had, so I also had to process that and try and deal with that feeling that I’d had that I hadn’t, and then I had, and it was a lot.’
When asked about the fatal phone call in question, Marnie stated, “it would have been very comical if there was a camera on us at that moment,” characterising her discussion with Lord Sugar as one she’ll “never forget.”
‘I’ll never forget that conversation and I will always hold on to it very dearly,’ she added.
The Apprentice is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
Source My Celebrity Life.
