The Apprentice star claims candidates are ‘set up to fail’ by show producers amid ‘manipulated’ series
A FORMER star of The Apprentice has claimed that candidates are ‘set up to fail’ by show producers.
Amy Anzel spoke exclusively to The Sun ahead of the new series, with the 2022 candidate lifting the lid on what really goes on behind the camera.
The stunning American business woman, 51, shot to fame in the 2022 series of the BBC One reality show when she was allegedly “banned” from the final after she was fired.
And now Amy has shared how she believes the candidates are “set up to fail” by show bosses while revealing something that seemingly proved it to her.
“I met a buyer…. And I said, I know for sure that they tell the buyers to buy or not to buy,” Amy told The Sun about buyers who appear on the show to buy from the candidates during various challenges and tasks.
She went on: “And I met 2 different people randomly. One was a friend of a friend.
“I pitched to her on the show in the food task, and she said, ‘sorry I was told not to buy from you by a producer. I will not, never do the show again’.
“And then I met another woman in my temple, who confirmed that you know they totally tell you.
“Tell them on the corporate end, like how far they can go in terms of the negotiation.”
Amy added: “So, in order to obviously set the candidate up for a fall/
“Because sometimes it’s impossible to sell things at a certain price when realistically in the real world, you know that you would only get X.”
‘MANIPULATED SHOW’
Amy, who founded Hollywood Browzer, also slammed the show for being “manipulated” and staged.
“The amount of manipulation in that show is unbelievable,” she told us.
“I mean, then, there has to be in all reality, I appreciate that, but not to that extent.”
Touching on how she thinks the show is manipulated, she said: “It’s really about the producers making the mistakes, not on behalf of the candidates, like setting up the stage so that the candidates will definitely make that mistake.”
BANNED ITEM
Amy added: “What I saw often was, they’ll say you have 10 min left for a task, and you know there’s no clocks.
The Apprentice winners who have quit
By Conor O’Brien
Since The Apprentice launched in 2005, Lord Alan Sugar has crowned several winners.
In 2011, the prize changed from a job working under Lord Sugar to a £250,000 investment partnership.
While some past winners work with Lord Sugar to this day, other collaborations have long ended.
Here is a look at some of the winners who have quit working with the business giant.
- Tim Campbell: After winning the first series, Tim (who was 26 at the time) secured a position at Lord Sugar’s company Amstrad on a £100,000 salary. After two years, Tim left to start a perfume business – although this was later abandoned. Since 2022, he has been back on The Apprentice as one of Lord Sugar’s aides.
- Lee McQueen: Having won series four in 2008, 30-year-old Lee McQueen was assigned a position at Amscreen. He left the role after two years in July 2010.
- Yasmina Siadatan: Yasmina, who won The Apprentice in 2009, fell pregnant four months into her £100k-a-year role. She worked for Lord Sugar for 12 months but chose not to return after her maternity leave.
- Stella English: 2010 winner Stella English went on to work for Lord Sugar’s Viglen after time on the BBC show. However, she walked out after 13 months of employment when told her contract would not be renewed and claimed she was just an “overpaid lackey”.
- Mark Wright: Australian-born Mark won in 2014 and used the £250,000 investment to found digital marketing agency Climb Online. He parted ways with Lord Sugar in 2022, selling the business for an estimated £10million.
- Joseph Valente: Former plumber Joseph won the BBC show in 2015. However, he and Lord Sugar ultimately ended their working relationship after 18 months.
- Alana Spencer: Alana partnered up with Lord Sugar after winning in 2016. She claimed the top spot with her cake business Ridiculously Rich. The pair worked together for three years – until Alana ultimately bought out Lord Sugar.
- James White: In a one-time situation, James was one of two Apprentice winners in 2017. Three years after he won the show, Lord Sugar left the IT recruitment company, but reportedly let him keep the £250,000 investment.
- Sarah Lynn: Sweets delivery businesswoman Sarah was the other joint winner in 2017. She and Lord Sugar parted ways in September 2022.
- Carina Lepore: After winning The Apprentice in 2019, Lord Sugar put a £250,000 investment in Carina Lepore’s Dough Artisan Bakehouse business. However, the pair ended their partnership in 2023.
“You can’t wear a watch, and they’ll shut you down.
“They’ll stop the task way early, prematurely, so that you don’t finish something, and then your artwork is half finished, and then you have to present that version to the buyers.”
CLOTHING RULE
“When you are choosing your 3 boardroom looks because they do a revolving boardroom look book,” Amy told us in our chat, revealing a secret clothing rule.
“You send pictures of what you’re planning on wearing, and they claim it’s so that no one’s wearing the same colour, and you don’t like, you know, clash, or, you know, not look good against each other.”
“In the boardroom I saw they put her [Amber-Rose from this year’s series] in red, and I thought usually the person, and I wore a red dress.”
She said she thought: “Okay, she’s probably going to be the sassy, you know, outspoken gets into trouble because I’ve seen that in the past. That’s just my 2 cents on that, you know, and she’s very outspoken.”