The Apprentice winner Marnie Swindells has hit back at critics who have compared the show to Love Island, insisting women can be both glamorous and serious businesswomen.
The 28-year-old Manchester court solicitor is using her £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar to franchise her boxing studio, where she hopes to teach women how to protect themselves in the face of recent violent crimes against women and girls.
She beat salon owner Rochelle Anthony, 35, as a finalist in the BBC One show’s second straight all-female final on Thursday night.
Marnie impressed Lord Sugar in the winner-takes-all challenge after pitching her boxing gym idea to hundreds of industry experts at London’s Grand Connaught Rooms venue.
Speaking exclusively to Web about Love Island comparisons, the 2023 winner said: “Women can have it all and to say we have to choose between being glamorous or good businesswomen is an insult. We can do both and we can do everything.
The Apprentice winner Marnie Swindells has hit back at critics who have compared the show to Love Island, insisting women can be both glamorous and serious businesswomen
The court attorney is using her £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar to franchise her boxing studio, where she hopes to teach women how to protect themselves
She beat salon owner Rochelle Anthony in the second straight all-female final of the BBC One show on Thursday night
“It’s okay for women to be online and be expressive and show their fashion, makeup and hair. Time has passed and we are in a more digital age.
“The saying ‘Find a woman who can do both’ really shouldn’t even exist. It goes without saying that we are all of these things. Women can take on many roles and be many different people, and that’s really an unfair narrative.”
Following the tragic death in March 2021 of Sarah Everard, who was ruthlessly killed by Metropolitan Police Officer Wayne Couzens, and the brutal murder of Zara Aleena last June, women by the thousands have spoken out about feeling unsafe on the streets of London.
In January this year, former Met police officer David Carrick was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to 85 serious crimes, including rape and sexual assault, during a 17-year campaign to terrorize women.
This has led women to distrust the police, with just 42 percent saying they trust the Met as a whole in a YouGov poll this month.
Marnie, a double gold medal boxer, hopes her London-based Bronx gym can teach women the skills to regain their strength on the street, as she insists that knowing how to successfully deliver a punch helps keep you safe can.
She said: “The benefits of boxing go well beyond physicality and fitness. They really bring a sense of community together.
“One thing that is particularly close to my heart when it comes to teaching women to box is to teach the true skill and the true technique. I think many times women are scammed with boxercise and boxfit but these courses will not protect you.
Marnie hopes she can give women who visit her boxing gym confidence by teaching them how to throw a punch, which in turn can help keep them safe on the street
While Lord Sugar admits he knows nothing about boxing, he invested in Marnie’s business pitch and crowned her the winner of Series 17
“If you ever throw a punch and need to protect yourself, it’s really important that women know how to put the weight into a punch and really take care of themselves. I am a huge proponent of teaching real boxing even if you have no aspirations to fight. We need the real deal.
“I had a session the other night with 70 women in attendance and the atmosphere there where everyone came together and supported each other…it was amazing to see.
“I’ve had women say, ‘I’ve walked past the door 20 times,’ but they were too nervous to come in and now they love it.
“It’s such a shame to think how many more women we could reach and impact if we could only make this entrance and this doorway more open and inclusive.
“I’m hoping this will be a real differentiator for my gym because when women see women there and a woman is at the helm, they will feel a real connection to it.”
Marnie prevailed against 17 contestants in series 17 of the BBC One series in which the contestants sought Lord Sugar’s investment by taking part in a series of tasks.
She was put through her paces by Karren Brady and Tim Campbell, the show’s inaugural winner in 2005, and questioned about her plan by business titans Claude Littner, Mike Soutar and Linda Plant.
But nothing could faze the boxing champion, having learned the importance of strength and determination from a young age.
Marnie impressed Lord Sugar in the winner-takes-all challenge after pitching her boxing gym idea to hundreds of industry experts at London’s Grand Connaught Rooms venue
She enlisted the help of her former co-stars, including Simba Rwambiwa and Megan Hornby, both of whom lasted until later in the competition
The Apprentice winner believes women can be both glamorous and credible businesswomen, and says it was an “insult” that candidates were compared to Love Island candidates
Marnie told Web she was not troubled during the process, having learned to be strong and motivated from a young age after losing her father when she was eight
Marnie suddenly lost her father when she was eight and initially joined a boxing gym to vent her grief and overwhelming feelings of anger and confusion.
She said: “I didn’t really grieve until much later. In two days I was back in school, back to normal life, because that was my mother’s approach. We had to keep going and going.
“That’s why I’m so direct and honest, and that really came through on the show. I’ll get straight to the point, I’m a person without airs and graces. As hard as things are, you have to push yourself and that’s my attitude to life.
“But for me, that sadness has turned to anger and frustration. It was only through boxing that I felt an outlet for the first time. Up until then nothing had worked.
“When sad things happen to you, they awaken feelings and the beauty of boxing is that aggression, anger and sadness have actually been celebrated in me. When I got into boxing and I was a fighter and I was always at the forefront, I was really celebrated for that.
“Suddenly the feeling went from that negative thing into something that I was really good at channeling and actually pushing myself further and becoming a champion.”
Marnie says the next step will be franchising her three-week-old boxing gym Bronx, located in the Camberwell area of London, and she hopes their partnership will be a force to be reckoned with, though Lord Sugar admits he is know nothing about the sport.
She said: “We’ve only been open for three weeks today so we’re still in our infancy but we have a great future ahead of us and myself and Lord Sugar need to discuss what we do next.
“One of our big USPs is that we have such an easy way to become part of the Bronx. You can either become a member and do as many courses as you like or you can pay per session, it’s £10 per session and we have a group sessions every evening from 6pm to 7pm, 7pm to 8pm and 8pm to 8pm until 9 p.m. are super easy and uncomplicated.
“I wanted to make it accessible and affordable for as many people as possible to live up to the message behind the gym that boxing is for everyone.”
- Apprentice UK Series 17 can be viewed in full on BBC iPlayer