"I categorically never, ever, cheated on Michael."
Amber-Rose Badrudin will be competing for Lord Alan Sugar’s £250,000 investment in the upcoming series of The Apprentice.
She will be competing against 17 other entrepreneurs in the BBC business competition.
The London-based entrepreneur is the owner of a convenience store.
Yet before her scenes have made it to air, the 25-year-old has found herself hitting the headlines, thanks to her personal life and filming controversies.
Here are five things you perhaps didn’t know about Amber-Rose Badrudin.
She was Caught with a Half-Naked Rival during Filming
Amber-Rose’s business plan was apparently not the only thing on her mind.
Despite The Apprentice‘s strict “no touching rule”, she was reportedly caught in a hotel room with a co-star during filming in Turkey.
It was reported that she was seen with the co-star by a crew member through a window.
When crew members knocked on her hotel room door, the “half-undressed” male contestant tried to hide in the bathroom.
Amber-Rose Badrudin also apparently wrote a letter to her co-star when he was at risk of being fired.
The pair were reportedly read the riot act and when they returned to London, they were reminded of the show’s sex ban.
Despite the reports, Amber-Rose insisted that they had been “twisted” and that it had “not come from the BBC”.
While she didn’t deny the incident had occurred, she insisted she was “not read the riot act” by producers or reprimanded for any sexual behaviour.
She was in a Relationship with her Business Partner
Another aspect of her life that has been in the spotlight has been her past relationship with her current business partner Michael Nguyen.
The pair had been together for four years but their split raised eyebrows especially as Amber-Rose had not explained why.
The timing of the split led some to wonder if she had cheated on Michael during her time on the show.
Amber-Rose insisted this was not the case, saying she had split from Michael before filming of The Apprentice.
She also rubbished suggestions that she had dumped Michael after losing weight and having a “glow up”.
Amber-Rose explained: “Everyone thinks I’ve done him over, he’s crying in a corner somewhere. I’ve glowed up and he’s rotting. Michael’s lost 20kg. He goes to the gym twice a day.
“He’s literally nearly got a six-pack. His skin’s never been better. He’s grown a beard.”
Hitting out at the cheating claims, she said:
“I categorically never, ever, cheated on Michael.
“There’s so much love and respect between myself and Michael. The fact is, myself and Michael were broken up a while before we announced it on social media.
“I know that, Mike knows that and I think it’s very, very normal for couples who have been together a long time to just take their time when it comes to announcing something like a breakup online.”
She Runs an Asian Convenience Store
Amber-Rose and Michael co-founded the UK Asian supermarket Oree Mart in Croydon in 2022.
The ex-couple left their sales jobs after Covid restrictions were lifted and started selling locations for the premises.
She said:
“The space we got was a shelving unit, so we literally went through the process of building the entire shop from scratch.”
“I kind of took the reins on designing everything, I came up with a brand concept and name and then I started promoting it on TikTok.”
She said Michael works on the “logistics side”.
Within their first six months of trading, the pair made six figures and attracted customers from as far afield as The Netherlands.
With one shop already, Amber-Rose recently announced that she was working on opening a second branch.
Amber-Rose is also an Influencer
In addition to running her business, Amber-Rose Badrudin is also an influencer, posting glamorous photos of her life on social media.
She has over 700,000 TikTok followers and she uses the platform to post life updates and makeup routines.
On Instagram, Amber-Rose boasts over 27,000 followers and that figure is only set to increase during her time on The Apprentice.
Stating that she wants to represent young South Asian women in business, Amber-Rose posted:
“I hope I make you proud. As a young South Asian woman who started with absolutely nothing, I want to be the representation I’ve always wanted to see.
“A woman can have it all—and that’s exactly what I aim to prove, always.
“I can’t wait for you all to see me in a new light—on TV!
“Being part of this show has been a lifelong dream, and being a candidate has been one of my proudest achievements to date.
“This is going to be an exciting ride! I love you all, and here’s to a new chapter.”
A Bubble Tea Business Plan
Amber-Rose Badrudin revealed that her Apprentice business plan will be centred around bubble tea.
Explaining her business plan, she said:
“My first business, Oree Mart, sold bubble tea and it was a hit.
“We removed it from our store to streamline operations, shifting focus solely to the convenience store model.”
“However, daily requests for the bubble tea’s return inspired: ‘Oree Tea’, which will be a separate bubble tea (boba tea) shop, showcasing the best of Taiwanese bubble teas, leveraging a pre-existing, keen customer base.”
On why she deserves Lord Sugar’s investment, Amber-Rose said:
“I am bringing Lord Sugar a business plan that already has a waiting customer base.
“There has never been a business plan like mine before, where I get daily messages asking for our bubble tea to make a comeback.
“If Lord Sugar doesn’t invest in me, he would quite literally be leaving money on the table!”
Amber-Rose Badrudin will hope to get off to a winning start when the contestants go to Austria to sell and run alpine tours.
The Apprentice returns to BBC One on Thursday, January 30, 2025, at 9 pm.