Karren Brady reveals how aneurysm changed her life

The businesswoman was treated for a brain aneurysm seven years ago.

She told Hello! magazine: “I would never have done The Apprentice had I not gone through the experience.

“It made me realise life is short – and fun – and that you should try new things. I really believe in lifelong learning. The moment you think you know it all is when you don’t know anything at all.”

Her husband Paul said the illness changed his wife considerably. He said: “It made her softer and she’s less likely to get so fraught about the unimportant things that used to wind her up”.

Brady, who started her working life at Saatchi & Saatchi when she was 18 and is now vice-chairman at West Ham United, said she regrets going back to work within days after giving birth to her daughter Sophia 17 years ago.

She said: “I was still trying to prove myself so I carried on working.”