THE APPRENTICE 2023: MEET THE CANDIDATES

AVI SHARMA

Occupation: City banker

Location: London

Key info: Youngest candidate and believes that Lord Sugar’s investment will get him out of the “rat race” of city banking

He says: ‘Some say I’m delusional, I prefer the term optimistic.’

DANI DONOVAN 

Occupation: Hair salon owner

Location: Hertfordshire

Key info: Believes she deserves to win the programme because her business fills a ‘huge gap’ in the market, saying: ‘It baffles me that no one has done it yet!’

She says: ‘I think I’m a different kind of business owner, someone who is a lot more relatable to people.’

EMMA BROWNE

Occupation: Senior account executive

Location: County Kildare

Key info: Laser focused on making her unique business idea a resounding success

She says: ‘I am disgustingly competitive. I will go to any lengths to win this investment.’

JOSEPH PHILLIPS

Occupation: Safari Guide

Location: Worcestershire

Key info: The “James Bond of the business world” with a degree in Zoology

He says: ‘If Lord Sugar wants to invest in a business to help save the ocean, one lip balm at a time, then I’m his guy.’

MARK MOSELEY

Occupation: Pest control company owner

Location: London

Key info: A former soldier who says he can ‘sell to anyone’ with the gift of the gab

He says: ‘If Lord Sugar doesn’t pick me, then he’s missing a trick.’ 

MEGAN HORNBY

Occupation: Sweet shop and café owner

Location: East Yorkshire

Key info: She says her business fills a gap in the market and has the potential to be nationally recognised.

She says: ‘I think that no matter what situation I am thrown into, I will always give one hundred percent truth, even if it’s hard to hear.’

ROCHELLE ANTHONY

Occupation: Hair salon and academy owner

Location: Bedfordshire

Key info: Describes herself as ‘tenacious, fierce and determined’ and says together with Lord Sugar they would be ‘an absolute force to be reckoned with.’

She says: ‘I’m always being compared to the Kim Kardashian of the business world because I’m doing business with a hint of glam.’ 

SHAZIA HUSSAIN 

Occupation: Technology recruiter

Location: London

Key info: Wants to champion a varied representation of diverse women in the world of business

She says: ‘I don’t need any friends in business. I am here to win this.’

SOHAIL CHOWHARY 

Occupation: Martial arts school owner

Location: Southampton

Key info: Raised in a council house and worked hard to create business and warns other candidates to be ‘wary’

He says: ‘I am calm and collected, but if they do come at me? I will bite and I will sting, and I will leave my mark.’

BRADLEY JOHNSON 

Occupation: Director of construction company

Location: North Yorkshire 

Key info: Self-made business that turns over half-a-million after being made redundant just four years ago

He says: ‘I have a business plan that will see us turn over seven figures after year three and who knows where else that could take us.’

 DENISHA KAUR BHARJ 

Occupation: Financial controller

Location: Leicestershire

Key info: Says she wants the investment opportunity because she wants to ‘be mentored by the best to be the best’

She says: ‘There’s only one Denisha Kaur.’

GREGORY EBBS

Occupation: Owner of an online antiques marketplace

Location: Shropshire

Key info: Previously worked as a professional cannon-firer in Malta

He says: ‘I would say, a willingness to try different things and not being afraid to be slightly different is one of my biggest strengths.’

KEVIN D’ARCY

Occupation: Accountant

Location: Dublin

Key info: Started his water sports equipment business during lockdown, whilst working in his job in the financial services

He says: ‘With Lord Sugar as my business partner, I know we can ride that wave into the UK and beyond…’

MARNIE SWINDELLS 

Occupation: Court advocate

Location: London

Key info: A gold medal-winning boxer and imaginative businesswoman

She says: ‘I deserve Lord Sugar’s investment because I have given my blood, sweat and tears to my business.’

REECE DONNELLY

Occupation: Theatre school owner

Location: Glasgow

Key info: Is determined to become the first Scottish candidate to secure Lord Sugar’s investment and claims to be the youngest CEO of a further education college in the UK

He says: ‘I’m here to prove that Scotland is filled with forward-thinking entrepreneurs and that we are not in fact a haggis-eating, kilt-wearing nation.’

SHANNON MARTIN

Occupation: Bridal boutique owner

Location: West Yorkshire

Key info: Is hoping to be the first business partner to bring Lord Sugar into the lucrative bridal industry.

She says: ‘Lord Sugar needs to be my next business partner, so I can make him millions.’ 

SIMBA RWAMBIWA

Occupation: Senior sales representative

Location: Birmingham

Key info: Is a self-confessed ‘perfectionist’ who says his business will improve the quality of people’s lives

He says: ‘If people can’t buy into you, they’ll never buy anything from you.’

VICTORIA GOULBOURNE 

Occupation: Owner of online sweet business

Location: Merseyside

Key info: Former flight attendant who started business in lockdown which grew into social media success

She says: ‘I’ve travelled all over the world and am not afraid to take on a challenge.’