Apprentice winner Marnie Swindells has hit back at critics who have compared the show to Love Island, insisting females can be both glamorous and serious businesswomen.
The court advocate from Manchester, 28, is using her £250,000 winning investment from Lord Sugar to franchise her boxing gym where she’s intent on teaching females how to protect themselves in light of recent violent crimes against women and girls.
She beat fellow finalist salon owner Rochelle Anthony, 35, in the BBC One show’s second consecutive all-female final on Thursday night.
Marnie impressed Lord Sugar during the winner-takes-all task after pitching her boxing gym idea to hundreds of industry experts at London venue the Grand Connaught Rooms.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline about Love Island comparisons, the 2023 champion, said: ‘Women can have it all and to say we have to pick between either being glamorous or being good businesswomen is an insult. We can do both and we can do it all.
Apprentice winner Marnie Swindells has hit back at critics who have compared the show to Love Island, insisting females can be both glamorous and serious businesswomen
The court advocate is using her £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar to franchise her boxing gym where she’s intent on teaching females how to protect themselves
She beat fellow finalist salon owner Rochelle Anthony in the BBC One show’s second consecutive all-female final on Thursday night
‘It is okay for women to be online and be expressive and show their fashion, their makeup, and hair. Time has moved forward, and we are in a more digital age.
‘The saying ‘get yourself a woman that can do both’ shouldn’t even exist. It goes without saying that we are all of those things. Women can take on many hats and be many different people and it really is an unfair narrative.’
Following the tragic death of Sarah Everard in March 2021, who was ruthlessly killed by Metropolitan police officer Wayne Couzens and the brutal murder of Zara Aleena last June, women have spoken in their thousands about feeling unsafe on the streets of London.
In January of this year, former Met police officer David Carrick was jailed for life after pleading guilty to 85 serious offences, including rape and sexual assaults, during a 17-year campaign of terror against women.
This has led females to distrust the police, with only 42 per cent saying in a YouGov survey this month that they have faith in the Met as a whole.
Marnie, who’s a double gold medal winning boxer, hopes her London based gym Bronx can teach women the skills to regain their power on the streets as she insists knowing how to successfully ‘throw a punch’ can help keep you safe.
She said: ‘The benefits of boxing go far beyond the physicality and fitness. They really bring a sense of community together.
‘One thing I am really passionate about especially when it comes to teaching women boxing is to teach the real skill and the real technique. I think often women get palmed off with Boxercise and Boxfit but those classes won’t keep you safe.
Marnie hopes she can install confidence into women that attend her boxing gym, teaching them how to throw a punch, which in turn can help keep them safe on the streets
While Lord Sugar admits he knows nothing about boxing, he invested in Marnie’s business pitch, crowning her winner of the 17th series
‘If you ever do need to throw a punch and protect yourself it is really important women know how to transfer the weight into a punch and really take care of themselves. I’m a huge advocate of teaching real boxing even if you have no ambitions to fight. We need the real deal.
‘I had a session the other night with 70 women in attendance and the atmosphere in there of everyone coming together and supporting each other… it was amazing to see.
‘I’ve had women say, ‘I’ve walked past the doors 20 times’, but they were too nervous to come in and now they love it.
‘It is such a shame to think how many more women we could be reaching and impacting if we could just make that entrance and doorway more open and inclusive.
‘I’m hoping that will be a real USP for my gym because when women see women in there and it’s a woman at the helm, they will feel a real connection to it.’
Marnie fought off competition from 17 candidates during series 17 of the BBC One series, which saw contestants strive for Lord Sugar’s investment by taking part in a series of tasks.
She was put through her paces by Karren Brady and Tim Campbell, who was the first winner of the show in 2005 and was quizzed on her plan by business titans Claude Littner, Mike Soutar and Linda Plant.
But nothing fazed the boxing champ after she learned the meaning of strength and determination from a young age.
Marnie impressed Lord Sugar during the winner-takes-all task after pitching her boxing gym idea to hundreds of industry experts at London venue the Grand Connaught Rooms
She enlisted the help of her former co-stars including Simba Rwambiwa and Megan Hornby, who both lasted until later in the competition
The Apprentice winner believes women can be both glamorous and credible businesswomen and says its an ‘insult’ candidates have been compared to Love Island contestants
Marnie told MailOnline that she wasn’t fazed during the process after learning how to be strong and motivated from a young age after losing her dad when she was eight
Marnie suddenly lost her dad when she was eight-years-old and first joined a boxing gym as an outlet for her grief and overwhelming feelings of anger and confusion.
She said: ‘I didn’t really grieve until much later. I was back in school after two days, back to a normal life because that was my mum’s approach. We had to move on and get on with it.
‘That is why I am so direct and honest and that really came through on the show. I get straight to it, I’m a no airs and graces person. As hard as things are you have to push through and that’s my attitude in life.
‘But for me that grief transpired to anger and frustration. It was only through boxing that I first felt an outlet. Up until that point nothing had worked.
‘When you have things that happen to you that are sad, they arouse feelings and the beautiful thing about boxing is that aggression, anger and sadness in me was actually celebrated. When I got into boxing and I was a fighter and always on the front foot, I was really celebrated for that.
‘So suddenly the feeling went from being this negative thing to something I could channel in a really good way and actually push myself further with and go onto become a champion.’
Marnie says the next step will be franchising her three-week old boxing gym Bronx, which is located in London’s Camberwell, and she hopes despite Lord Sugar admitting he knows nothing about the sport, that their partnership will be a force to be reckoned with.
She said: ‘We have only been open three weeks today so we’re still very much in our infancy, but we have a big future ahead and me and Lord Sugar need to discuss what we do next.
‘One of our big USPs is we have such a simple way to become part of Bronx, you can either become a member and do as many classes as you like or you can pay per session, it is £10 a session and we have group sessions running every night 6-7pm, 7-8pm and 8-9pm, it is super easy and straightforward.
‘I wanted to make it as accessible and affordable for as many people to fit in line with the messaging behind the gym that boxing is for everyone.’
- The Apprentice UK Series 17 is available to watch in full on BBC iPlayer
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