The Apprentice runner-up Anisa Khan reveals huge secret rule break that wasn’t shown on TV
THE Apprentice runner-up Anisa Khan has revealed a huge secret rule that show bosses allowed her to break during her time on the show.
The pizza company owner finished second on the hit BBC contest to Dean Franklin after Lord Sugar opted to not invest in her.
Dean and Anisa both made passionate final plea’s to the business titan but the air conditioning salesman managed to have one up on Anisa.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Sun, Anisa has now opened up on life during the filming of the show last year.
She admitted show bosses bent a huge rule for her during off-camera moments inside the shared house of all the candidates.
Contestants are cut off from the outside world during the filming process and are famously not allowed access to music during recording.
However, Anisa has admitted show bosses allowed her to listen to her idol Taylor Swift in order to cope with the pressures of the programme.
Anisa admitted: “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.
“I also made sure I had my own personal time to myself.
“The housing team were great because they let me listen to Taylor Swift because I’m a big fan.
“I’ve been a big fan of Taylor Swift since I was nine years old and so them allowing that for me made it feel homely.”
When asked if that became her coping mechanism amid the stress of the competition, Anisa confessed: “As the weeks went on, the Taylor Swift increased.
“It was needed to process everything. It was nice especially when there’s less people in the house.
“I got to have a room all to myself, play some music and just sit and lie there and listen.
“I just put myself in regenerate mode.”
The twist comes after Anisa’s co-star, and member of the final five, Jordan Dargan, previously told The Sun he had been unable to listen to any music during his time filming in the show as a result of the rules.
Jordan admitted there was only one day during down time filming in Turkey that he was able to convince a hotel worker to let him play his music through the hotel bar’s speaker.
Seemingly unaware of Anisa’s ‘rule break’, Jordan told The Sun last week: “I remember we were by the pool in Turkey and they had their Turkish music playing and we just were never allowed to listen to music.
“Listen to me. We didn’t have phones, you just didn’t have your own music so I started chatting to the the bartender lady and I was like, ‘oh how does the music work?’
“She then let me just pretty much make a big playlists of all my favourite songs and we got some Pina Coladas by the pool.
“That was the first time in weeks that I could just listen to any music so that was like a highlight of the whole process.”
Both Anisa and Jordan have remained on Lord Sugar’s radar with the businessman giving his contact details to Jordan in the penultimate episode whilst Anisa confirmed to The Sun she is still in talks with the mogul about a potential deal.
She told us: “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.”
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.