List of The Apprentice candidates (UK)

The following is a list of candidates from the British reality television series The Apprentice. The programme began in 2005 and a third series ended on 13th June 2007.

Candidates are listed alphabetically and are categorised into individual series. Where a date of birth is not provided, the age given will be that of when the series aired.

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Series One

Lindsay Bogaard

Lindsay Bogaard, 1969 (formerly Gill) is an organisational communication consultant and author from London. She is the founder of the UK's first national car-sharing agency and was a communications manager for Shell International at the time of her appearance on The Apprentice. She holds a BA and postgraduate diplomas in Broadcast Journalism and Internal Communications Management. She says: "You must be honest AbOUT where you're aiming to go and how you are competing with others to get there." Since appearing on The Apprentice, Bogaard has gone on to found her own company, Bogaard Arena, which specialises in Organisational change.

Timothy Campbell

Timothy "Tim" Campbell, a Middlesex University graduate in Psychology, worked as a transport manager for the London Underground before applying for the £100,000 a year job on The Apprentice. He was hired by Sir Alan Sugar, and was given a role within the health & beauty division within Sugar's company, Amstrad. Campbell quit the company in March 2007 and is planning to launch the Bright Ideas Trust, which aims to give £1 million a year to new businesses and entrepreneurs.

Raj Dhonota

Raj Dhonota, aged 30, is an internet entrepreneur and former estate agency director. He claims to have no hobbies and be totally focussed on business and says of himself "I'm an entrepreneur, not an angel." Since being fired in The Apprentice, Dhonota has set up his own company which outsources work from the UK to foreign countries through offshoring.

Rachel Groves

Rachel Groves, aged 32 from London, is a charity fundraiser and former advertising sales executive. She has a BA in German and a Chartered Institute of Management Advanced Certificate. Groves, who once went spacehopping down Oxford Street dressed as a baby (for charity), says: "I have incredible presence and am one of those people who fills a room even when alone. I have an infectious desire to live life to the full." After appearing on The Apprentice, Groves has spent time writing a novel and now works as the head of fundraising for the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Saira Khan

Saira Khan (born 1970, Long Eaton, Derbyshire, England) was the runner-up on the series. Before applying for the show, Khan worked as sales manager for an online recruitment company. Her qualifications include a BA in Humanities and an MA in environmental planning.<ref name="female" ?/> She is now a TV presenter on BBC's Temper Your Temper and Desi DNA while hosting her own programme Beat the Boss. She is a columnist for the Daily Mirror, a regular panelist for BBC Radio Five Live and has appeared on a number of other stations including BBC Radio 4 and the BBC Asian Network.

Ben Leary

Ben Leary, 29, is the owner of a headhunting firm. He was awarded the Global Consultant of the Year prior to appearing on The Apprentice. Leary says "In my career I win all the time."

Adele Lock

Adele Lock is a 29 year old salon owner from Mere in Lancashire. She was a general manager in a retail company selling kitchens and bathrooms before auditioning for The Apprentice and has 7 O-levels and 1 A-level. She worked until 8.00pm the night before giving birth and even managed to sell a kitchen to her midwife whilst in labour. Of herself, she says "Some people call me a workaholic, but I just enjoy work with a passion." Since appearing on The Apprentice, Lock has set up her own male salon with concessions around the country. She said of her time on the show, "I've learned to listen more, not to be so dictatorial and I've learned that your family is priceless".

James Max

James Max, 37, was an investment banker and partner of a private equity firm, prior to his appearance on The Apprentice. He is a Chartered Surveyor and holds a BSc in Land Management. He says, "I seek success as a result of my own achievements." Since leaving the show, Max has featured regularly in the media. He has been a columnist for The Times Online and written for The Sunday Times, presents two weekly shows on London's LBC and presents the business update daily on TalkSPORT alongside footballing lengend Ian Wright and Adrian Durham who is often referred to as Gingerflaps. He has also presented segments in E4's "Get Your Act Together" with Harvey Goldsmith as presented by Ian Hyland and alongside Simon Amstell for T4's "The Morning After Show" As with many other candidates, James Max has undertaken numerous public speaking roles around the country.

Adenike Ogundoyin

Adenike Ogundoyin, 30, runs large events for corporate clients and owns and manages a restaurant in Nigeria. Her qualifications include a BA in Business Studies, MA in International Business and MBA from Pace University, New York. She says: "I am a entrepreneur by nature and it's all I know."

Matthew Palmer

Matthew Palmer, 39, has a BA in Business and Computing and a postgraduate Diploma in Marketing and is from London. His previous jobs include being a self-qualified stockbroker, and a computer trainer. A Conservative Party parliamentary candidate in the 2001 general election, he claims "The objective of a business is not to make money. The object of a business is to satisfy customers. The result is to make money." Since being fired from The Apprentice, Palmer has set up a website for those suffering from fertility related problems.

Miranda Rose

Miranda Rose, 26, is from Nottingham. Her career has included being a managing director of an estate agency, owning a successful mail order company and running her own self-funded exhibitions company. She has a BTEC National Diploma and a GNVQ in Leisure and Tourism. Prior to appearing on The Apprentice, Rose was a contestant on Wheel of Fortune and also completed a fire-walk over 25 feet of red hot embers. She says "I've got huge life experience for my age, which is better than anything written on a piece of paper."

Sebastian Schrimpff

Sebastian Schrimpff, 29, is a photography company manager who spent the first 16 years of his life in Colombia. He has a pilots licence and a BSc in Natural Science and claims his interests are Saville Row suits, skiing, tennis and "doing acrobatics in powerful planes."

Miriam Staley

Miriam Staley (born 1978 in Oxford, England) is a former hotel manager from Saint Martin in the French West Indies. She has a BA in French and Spanish and enjoys underwater diving with sharks. She says: "I don't know all the classic business theories or have the 'pat' answers - my experience comes from what I've directly learnt in the field. I bring a unique experience as I've lived in four different countries and am bilingual." Sir Alan said after she was fired that he thought he may have made the wrong choice. Since being fired in The Apprentice, she has moved back to the UK and currently lives with her husband in The Docklands, London.

Paul Torrisi

Paolo Roberto Torrisi "Paul Torrisi" (born April 25, 1970) was a property developer prior to appearing on The Apprentice. His qualifications include O-levels and a systems analysis certificate. Despite being fired in week 11, Torrisi was offered a job by Sir Alan Sugar, working with his son Daniel for his private jet company Amsair. He turned down the job on Sir Alan's advice and has since been focusing on a career in the media. Since leaving the show, Torrisi has gone on to make notable appearances on Grandstand, BBC Breakfast, Bargain Hunt, Confessions Of An Estate Agent, T4, Look North and has also made appearances on the spin-off show The Apprentice: You're Fired! as well as BBC Radio. He also presents Property Prophets on UKTV Style and UKTV Bright Ideas.

Series Two

Syed Ahmed

Syed Ahmed (born 1975, Sylhet, Bangladesh) is a self-made British businessman and director of IT recruitment consultancy firm IT People. He claims to be "street-wise" and "a self-styled business bad boy". Syed was fired in week 10 after he tried to organise a fun day on a cruise ship. His many mistakes included not properly recording the names and room numbers of passengers entering a raffle. Syed had a romantic relationship with fellow contestant Michelle Dewberry and she fell pregnant. In August 2006 they lost the baby, who died before birth.

Nargis Ara

Nargis Ara has an honours degree in pharmacy and is a PhD student. She was the most highly educated of all the contestants, although her experience lies mainly in pharmaceutical research. She was fired in week 2 after deciding it would be a good idea to use cats as the theme for a children's charity calendar, and displaying appalling sales skills during the task. It has since been revealed by contestant Alexa Tilley that the team were given no choice in this matter, this fact was not revealed to the television audience.

Ruth Badger

Ruth Badger (born 1978) has 7 GCSEs (in week 11 she stated that she and Michelle had 5 GCSEs between them, which referred to the difference between Michelle's 2 GCSE passes and her own 7) and was previously employed as a sales manager. Ruth was the runner-up, reaching the final before being fired. Rumours arose in many tabloid newspapers over her sexuality.

Karen Bremner

Karen Bremner (born November 6, 1971) obtained a diploma in legal practice and Bachelor of Laws and was previously employed as a lawyer. She was born in Canada. Karen was considered to be the shock firing of this series when she was dismissed in Episode 3 with the line 'I don't need another corporate lawyer.' Karen had a number of radio and television appearances and was the business correspondent for Scottish talk radio station Talk107. Karen nows owns a successful boutique, karenB, based in Broughty Ferry in Scotland.

Jo Cameron

Jo Cameron was previously self-employed, and prior to that had worked at MG Rover as National Sales Manager and a head of training. After leaving The Apprentice, she miscarried a baby.

Michelle Dewberry

Michelle Dewberry has 2 GCSEs as well as professional qualifications. She currently lives in London but her roots are in Hull. From her first job working the checkouts in Kwik Save, she rose through the business ranks in various different firms to become a global project manager. She claimed to already earn the £100,000 salary offered by the show from her consultancy in telecommunications offshoring, and said that she wanted to become Sir Alan's apprentice for the experience rather than the money. Michelle went on to win the series, beating rival Ruth Badger in the final. Michelle's first assignment for Sir Alan was to launch Xenon Green, a business that disposes of unwanted computer equipment. However, she and Sir Alan parted company in September 2006. She had a romantic relationship with fellow contestant Syed Ahmed and became pregnant by him. In August 2006 they lost the baby, which died before birth.

Ansell Henry

Ansell Henry left school at the age of 16 to join Millwall F.C. and was on their books as a professional footballer. However, injury cut short his career and he found employment as a door-to-door salesman. He was born in South London but currently lives in Brighton. He says that he is a good all-rounder and gets on well with people. As one of the least educated contestants he joined the competition for a challenge. On the show Ansell gained a reputation as a "nice guy", reaching the final three before being dismissed.

Samuel Judah

Samuel Judah has a degree in manufacturing engineering and his previous employment was as a product developer. Before appearing on The Apprentice he spent 11 years working for the Ford Motor Company. His self description states that he is "demanding and domineering but the results are what count".

Tuan Le

Tuan Le was born January 11, 1979. He has 9 GCSEs and 2 A Levels, and before the show worked as a financial advisor. He had previously worked for the Nationwide Building Society, eventually becoming a financial consultant.

Sharon McAllister

Sharon McAllister (born June 1, 1975) has a BA in Corporate Communication and worked previously as a business lecturer.

Mani Sandher

Mani Sandher has a BSc in physics and was previously employed as a management consultant. He lives in London and admits that he "can be a perfectionist". He has set up two profitable businesses although he is now a silent partner in one of them.

Ben Stanberry

Ben Stanberry has a master's degree in law and worked previously as an IT consultant.

Alexa Tilley

Alexa Tilley was born in London on September 22, 1977 and prior to the show was a management consultant. She entered the contest for the business opportunity and the chance to learn from Alan Sugar. Although Alexa has a BA in economics from Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, she was most notable for her failings in the economics of a successful pizza business. Alexa is employed by French IT company Capgemini and is the cousin of Little Britain star Matt Lucas.

Paul Tulip

Paul Tulip (born October 1, 1979) has a degree in Business and Sport and had a career as a head hunter. Paul's website

Series Three

Simon Ambrose

Simon Ambrose was educated at Westminster School before gaining an MA in Economics at Magdalene College, Cambridge, graduating with a double first. It is reported that Simon became a member of Mensa at age 13 with an IQ of 174. He describes himself as "sexy, competitive, proud and ambitious" who does "his best work under pressure". Since being made redundant from the Investment Bank Credit Suisse, he has tried his hand at a number of internet-based entrepreneurial ideas. Percy Ambrose, his paternal grandfather is a jeweller and self made millionaire. His Father, Russell Ambrose, has many business interests with an annual turnover of £50 million. He was winner of series 3. .

Ghazal Asif

Ghazal Asif is a 23-year-old Glaswegian and is the youngest candidate; indeed her age proved to be a cause of concern to Sir Alan. She speaks five languages and plans to establish her own business in fashion if she doesn't win the programme. Her ambition is to be a millionaire by the time she’s 30. She was fired in week 8..

Ghazal Asif's Official Web Site

Tre Azam

Tre Azam, was born second into a family of seven and is described as "forthright, opinionated and a bit of a maverick", started work aged 10, building PCs in his father’s factory. He has worked in various countries in Europe and Asia, before running his family company’s US operations. He stayed in Britain for many years of his life and later appeared in the programme.

Tre was accused of Benefit fraud but it was later confirmed that all accusations were false. In his spare time, Tre enjoys kickboxing, martial arts and philosophy. He was once involved in a car crash in France, after falling asleep at the wheel, which left him in a wheelchair for nine months. He was told by doctors that he only had a 5% chance of walking or having children. Tre then said that he 'drank half a bottle of morphine and then 'got some crutches and started to walk'. Although he has metal plates in his spine and legs he walks without difficulty, and is married with a son called Ayaan. He attacked the programme for editing him badly. He said: "I am worried that my character might have been dumbed down because I made some of the other characters look too weak...I am worried that they might have made me out to be a [...] at the end of the day. I've been exploited like a motherfucker but it's all good as it's for TV. It's entertainment and this year's show is more and more like Big Brother. I doubt I will come out of it looking good."

Tre also appeared on Big Brother's Big Mouth and was on the green carpet for the IFA Awards 2007, that took place in Britain. Tre Azam has posted videos of his opinions on popular video website; You Tube

Tre Azam's Official Web Site

Gerri Blackwood

Gerri Blackwood was offered a job with MI5 on the same day as she found out her application for The Apprentice was successful. The 33-year-old says “It’s easy to have confidence when you are a big fish in your own pond, but to suddenly be thrown into a sea of sharks you have a bit of a reality check”.

After her final episode was shown on television, Gerri told The Daily Star that the female members of the show were forced to shower together. The article also claimed that Nick Hewer and Margaret Mountford fed the candidates misleading information so they would fail the tasks and that Sir Alan Sugar's rants were re-filmed to make them look better.

Paul Callaghan

Paul Callaghan was a junior infantry officer who saw active service in Iraq. He ended his service as a Lieutenant. “My lack of commercial experience might be a weakness but my leadership and organisational qualities are definite strengths,” he claims. He currently sells tents for Abbey Charters. He had a close relationship with fellow candidate Katie Hopkins during the show.

Ifti Chaudhri

Ifti Chaudhri built his successful tile business from scratch, has ambitions of owning his own leisure centre and is currently applying to join the Tae Kwon Do team for the 2012 Olympics. “When you can break bricks with your hands you believe in your head you can do anything, and in business I take on the same ethic.” he says. He was fired in the second week.

Kristina Grimes

Kristina Grimes is a single mother, who gave birth at the age of 17, with a Maths degree and believes The Apprentice is her ticket to success. “To me, Sir Alan is an inspiration – where he started, what he has achieved and his directness”.

Grimes was branded a "[...]-mad liar" and "f*****g witch" by her husband whilst on the show in an interview with The Sun Online. 34-year-old Jackie Adams said "We got caught one night by military police having [...] on my Nissan ZX’s bonnet at my base. They laughed".

Katie Hopkins

Born to Roy and Anona Hopkins in 1976, Katie Hopkins was sponsored through university by the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and claims she can ‘out press up’ most men. Her goal is "to be CEO of a large global brand builder by 40". She is a single parent from Devon with two daughters.. She claimed to be the highest paid candidate on £90,000 a year (since denied by her ex-employers, who dismissed her after the series was aired), and is a partner in her ex-husbands brand building firm.

Katie became memorable on the programme for her nasty comments to other contestants. These include calling Naomi Lay a dog, and making fun of Adam Hosker's North England background. She has also mocked the choice of clothes and fondness of fake tan of fellow candidate Kristina Grimes.

She hit the headlines as part of the first on-screen romantic relationship to feature on The Apprentice with fellow candidate Paul Callaghan.

Katie has become something of a hate figure during her time on the programme, especially on internet forums, although, Sir Alan Sugar has come to her defence.

A story in the Sunday Mirror labelled her a "serial marriage-wrecker" after it was revealed that she had affairs with two married men. The Daily Mail later printed revealing photos of Katie having [...] with a married man in a field.

She was also mocked on 'The Friday Night Project' in their 'Friday night news' segment. They reported on how Katie Hopkins had 'got the sack', referring to her being sacked from her job because of details of her private life which were revealed in the tabloids. Alan Carr commented on this saying " Normally when Katie gets the sack she grabs it in her right hand and rams it down her throat ". Katie herself appeared on the show the next week only to be met with heavy booing from the audience. Alan Carr also told her that she should learn not to 'put out' on a first date.

Adam Hosker

Adam Hosker was born on a council estate in Blackburn, Lancashire. He has an ambition is to run an internationally successful company after being one of only a small number of students to Graduate University from his comprehensive school, He graduated in Sport Management. He claims to earn three times the average wage of the kids he went to school with. He says “My strengths and my weaknesses are often the same thing – on occasion my confidence can come across as arrogance to those who don't know me. Adam currently holds the record for consecutive visits to the boardroom (4) and survivals of the boardroom (3) across not only all series of the British Apprentice but also the American Series. There was wide spread controversy surrounding Adam's exit from the show following a North South rift with a number of the other contestants, mainly Katie Hopkins and Paul Callaghan. Adam is now a Director in a North West based I.T. Company (I.T. Team Solutions, according to the North West News)after leaving his position as a Sales Manager in a car dealership. An article in a local North West newspaper commented that he is involved in the design of Sport Management Software for use in elite sport. His only regular public appearance is as a match presenter at Blackburn Rovers where he can be seen doing the half time announcements on the pitch. Adam's website - www.adamhosker.co.uk

Andy Jackson

Andy Jackson, a 36-year-old car salesman, is a father of three. His hobbies include playing online poker, buying and selling cars, and trading on eBay. “My passions are winning, winning and winning,” Jackson says. Ironically, he was the first contestant to leave the series.

Jadine Johnson

Jadine Johnson won a place at university but quit to support her daughter. She moved into banking and was promoted three times in her first year. It was quoted by a reporter in the The Sun that "Jadine enjoys cooking, and debating in her spare time as well as cleaning".

The Sun newspaper and mental health charity Mind criticised the programme for enrolling Jadine, who was sectioned under the Mental Health Act in 2003. A spokesperson from the BBC, however, said “As a part of the selection process, all candidates are seen by an independent qualified psychologist to assess their suitability for participating in the programme.” Jadine was fired in episode nine of the series

Sophie Kain

Sophie Kain has a PhD in Theoretical Physics. She works as a research scientist for an aviation and shipping design company. Kain commented “I can understand the technical side of things but also have vision.”

Lohit Kalburgi

Lohit Kalburgi, 25, was born in the United Arab Emirates (his parents are of Indian origin) and has been a resident of five different countries. Starting his first company at 16, he says “I would like people to see me as the nice guy. My game plan is to be myself and get on with things”. He is the first openly gay Apprentice candidate. The rumours about Lohit's sexuality were confirmed on 'The Apprentice: Beyond the Boardroom' where he appeared with his partner, Paul Llewelyn. Since his time on the show Lohit has now launched his own company, a new men's fashion label called PashFash, along with his partner Paul. Launching during London Fashion Week 2007, the debut collection can be see at the online boutique [http://www.pash-fash.com]www.pash-fash.com.

Rory Laing

Rory Laing, is a recently bankrupt 27-year-old and has employed over 700 staff across his three previous companies. He says "People say to me, ‘learn from your experiences’. Well I’m bored of learning from experience, I’ve had enough of them, it’s time now to cash in on it”. Rory, from Bristol, is said to have previously employed Prince William's girlfriend Kate Middleton in his catering company. During his time at the University of Bristol, he was also the subject of a disciplinary enquiry after producing a spoof copy of the University students' newspaper Epigram from proceeds of his business ventures, which was deemed "racist, sexist and homophobic".

Naomi Lay

Naomi Lay, 26, from Cornwall, was originally a PA and is now a Sales Team Manager for Advertising.com. She has visited Sierra Leone and Russia where her father worked in diamond and gold mining. “People that know me would describe me as loud, motivated, fun, determined, compassionate and energetic”.

Naomi graduated from University College London with a 2:1 in Modern European studies and is fluent in both French and Spanish after spending time studying at the Sorbonne in Paris and the Complutense University of Madrid.

Controversy surrounded Naomi when it was revealed that she had made a [...] tape and was worried that it could be leaked to the tabloids.. Although rumours of the existence of this tape have circulated for over two weeks, no such film has yet emerged.

Naomi was fired from the programme during the tenth episode.

After the apprentice, Lay returned to Cornwall where she was regularly talked about on the local radio station, BBC Radio Cornwall. She was one of the judges on the Radio Cornwall Singing Sensation competition at the Royal Cornwall Show.

Natalie Wood

Natalie Wood is a mother of two and former receptionist who believes she will thrive under Sir Alan’s management. “I admire Sir Alan’s achievements and attitude, I like the way he is with people. Who needs the truth wrapped up with fairy lights? Say it how it is!” she says.

Wood complained about a situation with Adrian Chiles, host of The Apprentice spin-off show, The Apprentice: You're Fired!. Chiles, who has a distinctive Birmingham accent, asked Wood on the spin-off show whether her Essex accent had been a hindrance. "But how can you pick up on my accent when Sir Alan is sitting across the table," commented Wood. "How can he say that? Essex is fantastic and I'm proud to come from Essex. A lot of people from Essex are very successful. I find it hard to swallow."

Natalie is now looking into starting up her own bar in her local town.