Business-style BBC show returns to screens on Wednesday
The Apprentice returns to screens next week which means get set for a barrage of backstabbing boardroom behaviour as 16 fresh faces compete to win £250,000 and the backing of business mogul Lord Sugar.
But what caught Legal Cheek’s eye in this year’s line-up is that one contestant — the youngest-ever to appear on the reality show — is a former mini-pupil.
Ready for the class of 2019?
Our super sweet 16 are primed for business. ?#TheApprentice pic.twitter.com/lQ4OEd7YIe— The Apprentice (@bbcapprentice) September 24, 2019
At only 19-years-old, Ryan-Mark Parsons already has a pretty neat CV. A scan of his LinkedIn shows he completed “internships” at not one but two top London sets: first as an “intern” at commercial crime specialist 5 King’s Bench Walk and then at human rights set Matrix Chambers in the autumn of 2016.
Then there’s Gucci at Harrods and Aspinal of London — big name brands the youngster has, according to his profile, completed stints at — alongside insurance companies AIG and Lloyd’s of London, plus the NHS and the House of Commons.
Parsons, who studied A-Levels in English literature, history and politics, currently goes by the title “luxury womenswear consultant” and is set to launch his own consultancy next month.
Speaking ahead of his appearance on the popular show, Parsons, who lives in South East London, describes himself as “the epitome of luxury” and “a 60-year-old trapped in a teenager’s body”. Parsons has done a fair bit of public speaking, too, and added his “best asset” is his ability to “forge a connection with anyone” but concedes “he’s not afraid to be ruthless when it comes to the other candidates”. Queen Elizabeth II is his role model.
Parsons isn’t the first legally-minded contestant to brace our screens. Last series we saw ULaw law grad Kurran Pooni and civil law solicitor Sarah Ann Magson battle it out in the boardroom. Fired from the show in episode six, Pooni appears to have put law on hold to pursue his acting ambitions, while Magson told us she had returned to the day-job soon after being shown Sugar’s firing finger in an interview in December.
The Apprentice is back for its 15th series and airs on BBC One on Wednesday 2 October.
The premiere will see the business hopefuls, which alongside Parsons include an artisan bakery owner, a pillow salesman and a Paralympic athlete, whisked away to Cape Town, South Africa to run public tours for sightseers.
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