Apprentice star Megan Hornby reveals business was on ‘verge of going under’

APPRENTICE star Megan Hornby revealed her sweet shop business “was on the verge of going under” due to the cost of living crisis after she wrapped up filming for The Apprentice.

Viewers saw fan favourite Megan just miss out on the final when she became the third of the final five to be fired.

As well as narrowly missing out on winning a massive £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar, The Sun can reveal that Megan’s sweet shop in Hull was almost forced to close its doors too – until she cleverly revamped her business.

Meghan had opened The Candy Shop during lockdown selling sweets, cakes and milkshakes and it was a huge success at first. 

After filming the BBC One show, Megan, 26, went to Hull Council to ask for a drink’s license to convert The Candy Shop into a cocktail bar – saying she needed to adapt to the market in order to stay open.

“After initially flourishing, my business has struggled for the last six to nine months to the point that we are on the verge of going under,” she said in the council meeting.

“People just can’t afford as much as they did before because of the cost of living crisis so I had to do something to keep the doors open.

“That’s why I want to start selling hot food like burgers and chips and alcohol as a venue for eating and drinking.

“I am also looking at it very much as somewhere to hire for baby showers, hen parties and other intimate events, not big noisy raves.

“We can only have space for 26 customers at any one time.”

Megan was fired from The Apprentice after her business plan failed to measure up during the notoriously tough interview stage.

She also clashed with Karren Brady after addressing the Baroness by her first name.

“It’s Baroness Brady to you, my friends call me Karren,” she snapped back.

Every series of the show is pre-recorded over the summer with the candidates usually given two months to complete all the challenges.

A few months after filming, in December, Megan went to her local council in a bid to keep her business going by offering a wider range of drinks and food.

Her dad Richard also spoke at the meeting saying that changing the nature of the business was essential in order to keep it afloat.

Planners voted to support the change of use, meaning the cafe bar will be able to allow customers in until 11.30pm each night.

The council also approved an alcohol licence for the new-look venue.

Since the planning decision, the sweet shop has been rebranded as Club Candy and moved to a new location, where it offers customers desserts, cocktails, and music.

Megan has previously revealed how she and fellow contestant Simba Rwambiwa had Karren Brady laughing so hard she was in tears as they pretended to be over-the-top prison officers during a challenge on the show.