"I didn't win the show, but again, I'm so grateful for that"
Former The Apprentice star Akshay Thakrar has shared his true feelings about losing out on the show’s £250,000 investment.
Akshay appeared on series 16 and before it aired, he said he was a man who believed sleeping was a “waste of time” and his first word was “profit”.
However, Akshay was fired after the ninth task.
Despite the firing, he says he is glad to not win.
The businessman said: “I didn’t need to win the investment to win at business.
“I didn’t even take my business on the show, I wasn’t allowed to take it on.
“I run a sports betting and tipping AI platform, Tips360, that’s taken off for me.
“We work on a subscription basis and provide sports betting tips, and we’re growing that at a really fast rate at the moment.
“If I’d have won the investment, I wouldn’t have been able to do that because it wasn’t my main business on the show.
“It’s made me realise ‘Wow, this opportunity was priceless, I’m so grateful, I’m grateful to everybody there’, but in a way, I’m glad I didn’t win because I’ve got 100% ownership of my own business and it’s working.”
Reflecting on his time on the show, Akshay Thakrar told The Mirror:
“It’s quite nerve-wracking when you watch and you know, 9 million people are watching.”
Since exiting the show, Akshay has become more recognisable than influencers.
He said: “I went to a service station and as soon as I got in people now, two or three years later, are like ‘Oh Akshay can I get a selfie?’
“I didn’t win the show, but again, I’m so grateful for that as well because now my business is worth way more than £250,000 for the 50%.
“Had I won the show, it would have been amazing, I would have got an amazing business partner but it makes you think ‘Wow, things happen for the best’.
“I’m so grateful I didn’t win because that show allowed me to grow my business in a way where I didn’t actually need the investment.”
After the show, Akshay began dating his fellow contestant Harpreet Kaur, who ended up winning the series.
The pair are now engaged and are finalising their wedding plans.
He explained:
“We’re getting married in May. Less than two years after the show.”
“If you’d have asked me when I was doing my interviews, I’d have been like ‘Huh? No’, let alone getting married to a – it’s been life-changing.
“We were going to have an international wedding initially.
“But logistics-wise, the UK worked out better.
“We’re keeping it intimate with our family but it is going to be a big bad boy wedding with our families, everyone is going to have an amazing time.
“It’s going well, I don’t think Harpreet would like me saying it’s 50/50 planning, I think it’s about 75/35.”
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