"she’s been my favourite since day one!"
BBC’s The Apprentice has reached the final, with Anisa Khan and Dean Franklin one step away from securing Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment.
The final will see them launch their business and present in front of industry experts before returning to the boardroom one last time in the hope of winning.
Harpreet Kaur, who won the 2022 series, has been watching how the candidates have got on, and she was very happy when Anisa was named a finalist.
Harpreet, who is currently working with Sky Vegas, exclusively told DESIblitz:
“I was jumping up and down at the TV for Anisa – she’s been my favourite since day one!
“She’s been so great throughout and really deserves her place in the final.
“Amber-Rose [Badrudin] did really well in the interview process too. I’m a bit gutted not to see her in the final, it was quite sad to see her fired so quickly.
“It had to be Anisa in the final, but I was a little surprised to see Dean there because there were other candidates who really shone throughout the process.”
Nevertheless, Harpreet stated that the final five did very well during the interviews.
She said: “I really enjoyed the interview episode.
“It’s the most anticipated one every year, and it’s something we all look forward to because it allows you to get to know each person beyond just being a candidate competing in tasks.
“It’s like uncovering another layer to who they are and that was great to see.
“Every single candidate had legitimate businesses and ideas they genuinely believe in and want to take forward. I don’t think that’s always the case, but all five of them came across so well.
“Seeing Dean being vulnerable was really refreshing and honest.
“Instead of giving the kind of answer he thought the interviewer might want like, ‘My business is everything to me’, he was just really honest and said it’s his family which is the most important thing about him.”
Having won The Apprentice, Harpreet had words of advice for the finalists:
“I felt so grateful to all the candidates for coming back to help me when I was in the final. It was almost like the pressure lifted, no longer about competing against everyone else, but about putting the best version of myself forward.
“I really enjoyed the process, and I felt like I came into my own.
“I knew exactly what I wanted to do because I was so clear on my business plan, it just became crystal clear to me.
“The pressure was on, and I remember thinking, ‘If you’ve come this far, you have to win. You owe it to yourself’.
“My advice for Anisa and Dean would be to focus entirely on your business, nothing else.
“If you’re sitting there thinking, ‘Millions are watching, I want to come across well on TV’, then you’re missing the point.
“This stage is about the investment, not just performing for one more task.
“They need to give it everything and show Lord Sugar exactly what they would do with his investment and bring that to life in just an hour of television.”
Throughout the series, Harpreet has backed Anisa and would love to see the pizza store owner secure the investment.
She explained:
“As my favourite, I’d love to see Anisa win The Apprentice, but you just never know.”
“I wouldn’t have predicted Dean making it to the final, so he must have a solid business plan to be there.
“There’s only so much we see as viewers, and maybe he’s really shone throughout the process.
“At the end of the day, it’s TV and you never know what twists and turns could happen.
“I’m genuinely intrigued and excited to see what Dean’s business plan is, because so far, he’s made it clear that mentorship is something he’s really after.
“But Lord Sugar is a very busy man, he doesn’t have the time to mentor every single business the way people might hope. You do need to have your own direction.”
The final of The Apprentice airs on April 17, 2025, at 9 pm on BBC One.
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