The Apprentice 2019 winner Carina Lepore has revealed that Karren Brady “might be scarier than Lord Sugar”.
Fans of the show will be used to watching savage business titan Lord Sugar rip into his candidates’ business blunders on camera.
However, past star Carina suggests his famous aide Karren could give her co-star a run for his money.
Carina was crowned the champ of the fifteenth series of The Apprentice back in 2019, which meant she won a whopping £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar himself.
Lepore used the money to build up Dough Bakehouse – her successful bakery business, which has also benefitted from Lord Sugar’s expertise after the show.
During her time on the BBC show, ex-contestant was able to spend lots of time with Lord Sugar’s famously strict aide Karren Brady, who is tasked with supervising the entrepreneurs on their tasks each week.
(Image: BBC/Boundless)
Glam Karren then reports back to Lord Sugar, offering him invaluable insights into the candidates’ successes and failings on the tasks.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Star, Carina revealed what Karren Brady is really like in person, and how she compares to Alan Sugar.
When asked about what Karren is like in real life, Carina said she’s “so scary” – and might even be more scary than the man himself.
However, the star entrepreneur quickly added Karren is “cool” and wants the candidates to succeed on their tasks.
She even personally invited the West Ham United vice-chairman into her lush London coffee shop.
Carina said: “Karren is so scary. She might be more scary than Lord Sugar, but she’s cool as well. For example she wants to see us win on the tasks.
(Image: PA)
“They [Lord Sugar’s aides] want to see us succeed. It doesn’t matter who they’re following, they just want to see you do well on the task.”
During the chat, the bakery business owner realised Karen hasn’t been into her London coffee shop.
She said: “Actually, she hasn’t been in [to my shop]. I’m gonna have to invite Karren in.”
Carina also revealed she used to admire “fantastic” Karren even before she entered the show.
She said: “I actually had Karren on my mood board before the show, before everything. Before I even apple and all that, I had Karren on my vision board.
(Image: Joe Pepler/PinPep/Cover Images)
“She’s still pinned on there, but she was on there just for me to get some inspiration from and learn from. How she conducts herself. Yeah she’s fantastic.”
Carina added: “But also when you’re on task you’re like ‘oh my god am I saying the right thing? What does Karren think?”
Brady joined The Apprentice as Lord Sugar’s aide in 2009 on the sixth series of the show after various stints as a guest interviewer.
She also told Daily Star what Lord Sugar is like in person – following his reputation as a no-prisoners businessman.
On what it’s like to work with Lord Sugar, Carina said he’s just like he is on the show and it’s not an “act” for TV.
(Image: PA)
She said: “He’s basically… how he is on the show is not an act. The first meeting I ever had with him [in his office], I was so nervous because it’s like another board room [on the show].
“He sits at the head of the table, you’ve got all the other peers, board directors, they’re my team now, they’re his team but they become your team.”
It turns out Carina could send a WhatsApp message to Lord Sugar if she wanted to, but it’s not clear if the business magnate uses any emojis in his messages.
She added: “They’re great, I can just WhatsApp them but yeah, we’ve got a great working relationship but the first time was really daunting and now I go in with my cup of tea, I know what I can talk through, I know what to sort of run over, what he wants to hear.”
For more information on Carina’s brilliant bakery, you can visit the Dough Bakehouse website here.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
