Apprentice winners through the years: Which candidates won in 2018 and before?

We chart the success of all of Lord Sugar's winning contestants
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They have battled boardroom showdowns and survived awkward trips to the greasy spoon, cooked up bizarre new products and whacky business plans.

But most importantly, they have impressed Lord Sugar - enough for him to put his faith in them when the cameras stop rolling.

But what happens to an Apprentice winner after the show is over? We chart the success of Lord Sugar’s top candidates after their victories.

1. Tim Campbell (2005)

The show's first-ever winner Tim Campbell (Talkback)
BBC

The first ever winner of the Apprentice, back when it began in 2005, was Tim Campbell. He was so successful as an employee of Lord Sugar’s company Amstrad that the business mogul kept him on for another year, after his initial contract was up.

Campbell then parted ways on good terms with Sugar, going on to found charity the Big Ideas Trust which helps disadvantaged young people get into business. In 2012 he was awarded an MBE for services to enterprise culture and has recently opened his own digital marketing agency.

2. Michelle Dewberry (2006)

Lord Sugar’s second winner of the £100k a year job contract was Michelle Dewberry from Hull.

She was less successful in her role at Xenon Green, than previous winner Campbell had been at Amstrad. Her numerous press appearances reportedly didn’t please Lord Sugar and she soon left to pen her autobiography Anything is Possible.

Since leaving the company she has founded a consultancy service and gives speeches, as well as making frequent appearances on Sky News.

Most recently, Dewberry has announced her intentions to run as an independent pro-Brexit candidate for Hull and West Hessle as in her words, ‘politics needs to change’.

3. Simon Ambrose (2007)

2007 winner Simon Ambrose loved working for Lord Sugar’s estate business Amsprop so much he stayed there for three years, before going on to set up his own company in the industry Ambrose Property Service.

After a few years as a surveyor, Ambrose clearly fancied a change, and chaired the London Contemporary Orchestra for a while, before moving on to creating up trendy eateries in Shoreditch and Stoke Newington.

4. Lee McQueen (2008)

The Apprentice's Lee McQueen
PA

Lee was a surprising winner considering he was caught out for having lied on his CV. He also didn’t have the best of starts in his role at Amscreen – he committed the cardinal sin of calling in sick on his very first day.

Despite the bad start he managed to recover his reputation and stayed at the company for a number of years before launching a public speaking career.

He has also founded a sales recruitment company called Raw Talent Academy.

5. Yasmina Siadatan (2009)

Siadatan would certainly have set the office gossips at Amscreen a flutter. After become pregnant following a whirlwind office romance, she left the company on maternity leave, never to return.

She’s since worked for Start Up Loans, run by James Caan of that other business show, Dragon’s Den fame and opened a few restaurants in Reading.

2009 winner Yasmina Siadatan
BBC

Another Apprentice winner to try her hand at politics, Siadatan has run as a Tory candidate for council. She has also spoken in the past about her half-brother who fled Britain to become an IS fighter in Syria, explaining that they had ‘lost touch’ five years earlier.

6. Stella English (2010)

Stella English’s time at Lord Sugar’s IT company Viglen is a period both parties would almost certainly prefer to forget.

After winning the show in 2010, English worked at Viglen for a few months before she left, telling press she had been a “glorified PA”.

She then went on to sue Lord Sugar for constructive dismissal, a case which she lost. While Lord Sugar then counter-sued to try and regroup some of his legal fees from the battle. He was also unsuccessful.

By this time however English had lost her job at Citigroup bank and told the court she had only around ‘£200’ in her bank account.

She has since bounced back, working as a host on Sky series CrowdBox TV.

7. Tom Pellereau (2011)

After five years of giving Apprentice candidates jobs within his own company, Lord Sugar petitioned the BBC to change the format after he said his existing employees were ‘fed up’ with seeing newbies parachuted in from the competition.

So in 2011, inventor Tom Pellereau became the first candidate to win a £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar into his business idea.

Gadget man: Inventor Tom Pellereau's business has gone from strength to strength
Talkback Thames

His winning S-shaped nail file Stylfile is still going strong and can be bought in supermarkets and high street stores. He’s also recently launched a new makeup brush-cleaning gadget Stylpro and other time-saving beauty tech like gel nail polish remover clips and a baby-safe nail clipper.

8. Ricky Martin (2012)

Martin, whose decision to go by Ricky to emulate the singer of the same name is still just as baffling 5 years later, won an investment from Lord Sugar in 2012.

Despite his business idea being not that memorable (he put the £250,000 into a scientific recruitment company), he’s gone on to win numerous business awards and is earning several million pounds each year.

Sadly, being so busy in business, Martin has been forced to give up on dream of becoming a pro wrestler.

9. Leah Totton (2013)

Leah Totton definitely ranks among Lord Sugar’s success stories.

Since her 2013 win, the GP has opened several cosmetic surgery clinics using the investment prize, and she even writes a regular beauty column for Standard Online.

Leah Totton in one of her cosmetic surgery clinics
PA

As well as offering botox ‘tweakments’ and, signature face-lifts at her own clinics, Totton also works part-time as a locum doctor in NHS A&E centre.

Her on-off relationship with 2014 winner Mark Wright has certainly helped her rack up tabloid column inches, with the pair rekindling their romance earlier this year.

10. Mark Wright (2014)

Mark Wright’s professional life is a lot less turbulent than his personal one (see his on-off relationship with 2013 winner Leah Totton).

He put Lord Sugar's £250,000 investment towards starting his SEO company Climb Online. It’s grown steadily since his win and brings in around £5 million a year, according to The Sun.

11. Joseph Valente (2015)

Cheeky chappy Joseph Valente’s rags-to-riches story (he set up a plumbing business after being expelled at 15) struck a chord with self-made millionaire Lord Sugar.

After winning the show he has gone on to expand his gas and heating business, hiring more staff and opening four more offices around the UK.

He has since split from Sugar, but the pair remain on good terms and the business mogul said he would still be on hand to give his protégée ‘any help and advice required’.

12. Alana Spencer (2016)

The show's most recent winner Alana Spencer (BBC/Boundless)
BBC

Series 12 winner Alana Spencer has been working hard on her baking business Ridiculously Rich, using the investment to boost her brand.

The 25-year-old has admitted that she still gets nervous when she's talking to co-owner Lord Sugar on the phone, but are in contact weekly.

13. Sarah Lynn and James White (2017)

(BBC/Fremantle Media)
BBC/Freemantle Media

For the first time in the show’s history, Lord Sugar broke from tradition and decided to invest in two businesses last year.

Lord Sugar was enticed by Lynn’s plan for a sweet empire while White’s recruitment business also peaked his interest, resulting in both walking away with £250,000 each to invest and a 50/50 partnership with the boss.

Lynn grew her 2010 company Sweets in the City with the money, her products now stocked by big names including Harrods and Selfridges. White expanded his Right Time Recruitment business with the sizeable investment.

14. Sian Gabbidon

Viewers were delighted when Lord Sugar chose swimwear designer and brand owner Sian Gabbidon as his business partner in last year's show.

Lord Sugar was impressed by Gabbidon's design skills and business potential, which lead him to take a chance on her breaking into a "crowded market" and offering her the £250,000 investment.

Gabbidon beat nut milk enthusiast Camilla Ainsworth in 2018's tense final.

The Apprentice kicks off on October 3 at 9pm on BBC One.

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