The Apprentice contestants Yorkshire: Which candidates on previous seasons of the BBC One show are from Yorkshire and where are they now?

The latest series of The Apprentice started on Thursday, January 5, 2023, with a fresh group of eager and ambitious business people, including three Yorkshire contestants. Hull contestant, Michelle Dewberry, won the second series of The Apprentice, the finale episode was watched by 5.7 million viewers.

Harpreet Kaur was brought up in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, and went on to win the 16th series last year, with 4.76 viewers tuning in to see the finale episode. This year we have three candidates from Yorkshire: Brad Johnson, Megan Hornby and Shannon Martin.

We have taken a trip down memory lane and listed the contestants on the The Apprentice from Yorkshire - and where they are now.

The Apprentice contestants from Yorkshire - where are they now?

Series 2 (2006) - Michelle Dewberry

The business woman, politician, presenter and media personality, from Hull, won the second series of The Apprentice in 2006. She worked her way up the business ladder since leaving high school at the age of 16 and working at St John Ambulance, KCOM and Kwik-Save.

She was headhunted by ISP, Tiscali as a project manager after working her way through the ranks at Kingston Communications before competing on the show. Since winning the show she started a business consultancy and in 2007 she published her autobiography, Anything is Possible and in 2009 she joined the magazine Business Matters as a monthly columnist.

She appeared on The Chase in 2016 and made appearances on BBC’s Question Time in 2017 and she was confirmed as a prime time show host in 2021 on GB News at 6pm on weeknights.

Series 2 (2006) - Paul Tulip

Paul is a headhunter from Leeds who came in fourth place in the second series of The Apprentice.

At the age of 26, he was the youngest apprentice to compete on the show. He now resides in Melbourne, Australia, where he set up his own podcast called Tulip Talks during the first lockdown in 2020.

Series 3 (2007) - Andrew (Andy) Jackson

Andy was a car salesman at the time he appeared on The Apprentice, from Leeds, and was fired from the show after the first episode.

He now has a Diploma in retail management and is an avid poker player whilst buying and selling cars and trading on eBay. He resides in Kirriemuir, Scotland with his three children.

Series 4 (2008) - Claire Young

Claire was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and grew up in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, where she currently lives. According to her website, she is a ‘proud Patron of Yorkshire’.

She was the runner up on series four of The Apprentice, reaching the final which garnered more than 11 million views. Her business experience started out in roles at Colgate, Palmolive, L’Oreal and Superdrug.

Claire now runs her own business ‘School Speakers’ and co-founded ‘Girls Out Loud’, which is a social club working with teenage girls aged 11 to 18. As well as this, she works in media as a journalist and radio presenter.

She studied equine science at the University of Bristol and currently still takes up her hobby of horse riding. She has a daughter called Eva, who was born in 2012.

Series 4 (2008) - Helene Speight

Helene was a 32-year-old global pricing leader at General Electric, who was living in Wakefield when she joined The Apprentice series four, where she came in third place. She had various roles before moving to General Electric, including an administration assistant in insurance, a recruitment consultant, a performance analyst in telesales and numerous IT positions.

She enjoys playing football and she returned to General Electric after The Apprentice and was promoted to general manager of a manufacturing company. Helene studied an Executive MBA course at Henley Business School.

Series 5 (2009) - Yasmina Siadatan

Yasmina entered The Apprentice in 2009 where she reached the final against Kate Walsh and was eventually hired as Lord Alan Sugar’s apprentice, taking £100,000 a year job with his company, Amscreen Health Care.

The Hull-born financial marketing director was head hunted by Dragon Den star James Caan before she established her own start-up loans company.

Series 5 (2009) - Rocky Andrews

Rocky was a 21-year-old sandwich chain owner at the time he appeared on The Apprentice, where he was fired after the second task. He is from Chop Gate, Hambleton, and owns Fatso’s Filling Station sandwich shops.

He was the youngest contestant on the series and left school at 16 to play football with Middlesbrough United and was diagnosed with arthritis in his knees, which meant he had to pursue another career.

Rocky is still a football fan.

Series 6 (2010) - Shibby Robati

Dr Shibby Robati, who was born and raised in Leeds, is a qualified surgeon and business owner and was fired from the sixth series of The Apprentice in episode three after being criticised for ‘flawed leadership’.

Series 6 (2010) - Alex Epstein

Alex was the head of communications for a Leeds company before he was made redundant due to the recession just before he appeared on The Apprentice. He was fired in episode six as project manager.

Since the show, he has established his own company Alex and Experts to help businesses ‘out-think’ their competitors. He has also worked as global creative director for BigChange since February 2022.

Series 7 (2011) - Leon Doyle

Leon was a fast food marketing entrepreneur and founded the business The Master Menu when he joined the cast of The Apprentice in the seventh series, where he was fired after the eighth task.

He is from Leeds and attended University of Huddersfield and in 2019 he established a smartplug company WIFIPLUG, which has since partnered with companies like Screwfix.

Series 9 (2012) - Francesca MacDuff-Varley

Francesca, who is from Leeds, was came in third place on the show and went on to open her own studio.

According to her Twitter bio, she is still a choreographer and she also works as a marketing manager for care home company Akari Care, based in Leeds.

Series 11 (2013) - Ruth Whiteley

Ruth, from Harrogate, was a training consultancy owner at the time of The Apprentice series 11, where she was fired after the fourth task.

Her background is in telephone sales and she also previously worked as a DJ on a mid-morning show for her local radio station as well as a stint as a court reporter.

She is now a presenter, speaker and a group business development director at Liberty Leisure Group. Ruth is also a comedian and works as a property investor and in radio.

Series 12 (2016) - Frances Bishop

Frances was the owner of a children’s clothing company, The Pud Store, when she first joined The Apprentice seven years ago. She’s from Doncaster and became the sole owner of the company after she was given shares by co-founder Rachel Mawby.

She came in third place, almost making the final before she left the show.

In December 2021, Frances was forced to close all of her Pud children’s clothing stores after the firm went into liquidation. In February 2022, she teased that she may be working but nothing has been announced as of yet.

Series 14 (2018) - Sian Gabbidon

Sian won the 14th series of the show, becoming Lord Alan Sugar’s business partner and winning the £250,000 investment.

She is from Leeds and the owner of the then swimsuit company Sian Marie, which has been rebranded as a lounge range company, SNME, since she left the show.

Series 14 (2018) - David Alden

The tax consultant, who is from Hull, was fired from the show after the second challenge.

As well as working as a tax consultant, his main job, he also works as a mobile DJ in the evenings.

Series 16 (2022) - Harpreet Kaur

Harpreet won the last series of The Apprentice and was the owner of a six-figure coffee and cakes business.

The confectionery business owner is from Brighouse, West Yorkshire, and is now the owner of Oh So Yum, which has expanded to Huddersfield and White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds and an online service that delivers nationwide.

Series 16 (2022) - Shama Amin

Shama, from Bradford, left the show before the third task on the third episode of the show due to her struggles with rheumatoid arthritis.

According to her Instagram bio she is currently still the director of The Little Academy day nursery.