The Apprentice runner-up Anisa Khan reveals Lord Sugar’s surprise off-camera promise & lifts lid on show editing secrets
THE Apprentice runner-up Anisa Khan has revealed the sweet off-camera promise Lord Sugar made to her when she failed to be crowned champion of the show.
Anisa, a pizza company owner from London, fell at the final hurdle when she became runner-up to Dean Franklin during the BBC contest.
Despite impressing with her product, which was universally loved by all those who tried it, Lord Sugar opted to go for her rival as a result of being a bigger business which was returning more money.
However, this has not stopped Anisa, with the TV candidate admitting her business has been “busier than ever” since she appeared on the show.
And it seems that Lord Sugar himself is still interested.
The business titan has kept in close contact with Anisa and has promised that he will take another look at potentially working with her again once “the dust has settled”.
In an exclusive interview, Anisa told The Sun: “Me and Lord Sugar have had a lot of contact actually.
“In the past year, I’ve been in contact with his team. We’ve had emails back and forth.
“I have his WhatsApp so we have been in contact.
“After the final, he did call to say he is still interested in me. He’s still interested in my business.
“He just said, let the dust settle a bit and then we’ll have conversations again.”
Despite making it all the way to the final two, Anisa revealed she wished the show’s edit had shown more of her skill set and confessed negation processes were often cut down in the show and as such, did not accurately reflect the hard work she had put into the task at hand.
Anisa told The Sun: “I wish they showed more of the skills we used or highlighted our successes for everyone.
“I remember watching some things where, for example, I got a £250,000 investment initially.
“With that, I remember I negotiated really well. I said this point and that point and I fought really hard to get that.
“But on TV, all you see is me going £250,000 and shaking hands.”
Having managed to make it all the way to the end, Anisa remained inside The Apprentice house longer than anyone.
However, living with all the other candidates and an additional house and welfare team initially proved a struggle for the budding entrepreneur.
Anisa revealed: “I honestly I found it difficult the first few weeks because there was no room that was empty.
“It was hard to get privacy and obviously we shared a bedroom as well. And in our downtime we would just talk. We got to know each other very, very well.”
Despite that, there was little tension in the house with Anisa admitting that the candidates managed to leave any feelings from tasks outside the door.
“We all got along and at the end of the day, we’re all adults. So we had to differentiate the difference between the process and the house,” Anisa said.
“There was no massive fight or anything like that in the house.
“For me, because I was giving my all to the task, when I came to the house, I always wanted to relax and just chill.
“Sometimes it’s hard when you’re with your teammates because then it’s like work gets brought home.
“But I socialised with everyone and also made sure I had my own personal time to myself.”
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.