Michelle Dewberry
Encyclopedia
Michelle Louise Faye Dewberry (born 9 October 1979) is a British
reality television
contestant and businessperson
from Hull
, East Riding of Yorkshire
. Dewberry first came into the public eye in 2006 as the winner of the second series of British
television programme The Apprentice
.
From her first job working on the checkouts in Kwik Save
, she rose through the business ranks in different firms to become a self-employed global telecoms programme director, living in London
. She was already earning a salary of around £160,000pa before joining the TV show, working globally with clients such as COLT Telecom. She cited her reasons for entering The Apprentice as being for the experience and not the money.
After winning the show, Dewberry told of her difficult childhood at the hands of her abusive father. She spent time in social services care as a child, along with domestic violence refuges. She donated the fee for the interview to charity.
aiding the launch of new venture Xenon Green, which specialises in disposing of the unwanted computer equipment of other businesses in an environmentally friendly way. Sugar was reported to consider this a growing market due to the demands of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive
(WEEE Directive) introduced by the European Union
in 2003.
Between the show's filming and its transmission on BBC2, Dewberry worked for Sir Alan for a total of 8 months. After winning the television series and before beginning her new role, Dewberry took a short sabbatical during which she made several appearances on chat shows, was interviewed for various newspaper
s and played in the England ladies' celebrity football team in the BSkyB
-commissioned Celebrity World Cup Soccer Six.
In July 2006, The Sun
newspaper revealed that she was pregnant by Syed Ahmed
, a fellow contestant on The Apprentice, with whom she had formed a romantic relationship. After being admitted to hospital with stomach pains in August 2006, Dewberry was told that she had lost the baby.
Dewberry has subsequently ceased working for Sir Alan, and runs her own consultancy: Michelle Dewberry Ltd (MDL) and www.chiconomise.com. In total, she worked for him for 11 months.
In November 2006 she appeared in Celebrity Scissorhands
, a BBC One
reality show in aid of Children in Need
.
In 2007 she released an autobiography, Anything is Possible.
Dewberry also runs workshops for both companies and individuals, teaching them that "Anything is Possible" and focusing on goal-setting, self-belief, confidence and people skills. She is also a successful public speaker, contributing to a number of high-profile business events.
Dewberry appeared in the first test-of-skills challenge in the CBBC
political reality television show Election
. She was the first celebrity mentor on the show and set the contestants a task in which they had to explain their unique selling point in thirty seconds.
In December 2009 Dewberry joined Business Matters magazine as a monthly columnist alongside Duncan Bannatyne
In July 2010 she opened Michelle Dewberry's Work and Money Surgery on women's lifestyle website iVillage.co.uk.
, Prince's Trust, Make Your Mark, Children's Society
and Women's Aid
. In 2007, she ran the London Marathon
in 4hrs 33mins 20secs to raise funds and awareness for the NSPCC. She completed the 2009 London Marathon in 4hrs 26mins 23secs and is currently in training to compete in the MS Challenger 4 day event to again raise funds for the NSPCC.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
contestant and businessperson
Businessperson
A businessperson is someone involved in a particular undertaking of activities for the purpose of generating revenue from a combination of human, financial, or physical capital. An entrepreneur is an example of a business person...
from Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
, East Riding of Yorkshire
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...
. Dewberry first came into the public eye in 2006 as the winner of the second series of British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television programme The Apprentice
The Apprentice (UK)
The Apprentice is a British reality television series in which a group of aspiring young businessmen and women compete for the chance to win a £100,000-a-year job as an apprentice to the British business magnate Lord Sugar in series one to six...
.
Background
Dewberry was born on 9 October 1979 to parents David and Glynis. She has four siblings: Karl, Claire, Marc, and Paul. Her elder sister, Fiona, died in 1996 when she fell from the eighth floor of a tower block in Hull, aged 19.From her first job working on the checkouts in Kwik Save
Kwik Save
Kwik Save was a discount supermarket chain in the United Kingdom until 2007. Its stores were small to medium sized high street supermarkets, mainly located in areas with below average incomes...
, she rose through the business ranks in different firms to become a self-employed global telecoms programme director, living in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. She was already earning a salary of around £160,000pa before joining the TV show, working globally with clients such as COLT Telecom. She cited her reasons for entering The Apprentice as being for the experience and not the money.
After winning the show, Dewberry told of her difficult childhood at the hands of her abusive father. She spent time in social services care as a child, along with domestic violence refuges. She donated the fee for the interview to charity.
The Apprentice
In 2006, Dewberry beat off competition from over 15,000 people to become the winner of the second British series of reality TV show The Apprentice, in which candidates compete for a £100,000-a-year job working for business magnate Sir Alan Sugar. Dewberry's quiet but steely demeanour led to her being nicknamed the "Silent Assassin", "Steel Pixie" and "Ice Queen" by the British press. Pointedly, she is the only winner of The Apprentice whose photograph is not shown in Lord Sugar's autobiography.After The Apprentice
After her victory, Dewberry was given a role within Sir Alan Sugar's company AmstradAmstrad
Amstrad is a British electronics company, now wholly owned by BSkyB. As of 2006, Amstrad's main business is manufacturing Sky Digital interactive boxes....
aiding the launch of new venture Xenon Green, which specialises in disposing of the unwanted computer equipment of other businesses in an environmentally friendly way. Sugar was reported to consider this a growing market due to the demands of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive is the European Community directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment which, together with the RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC, became European Law in February 2003, setting collection, recycling and recovery targets for all...
(WEEE Directive) introduced by the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
in 2003.
Between the show's filming and its transmission on BBC2, Dewberry worked for Sir Alan for a total of 8 months. After winning the television series and before beginning her new role, Dewberry took a short sabbatical during which she made several appearances on chat shows, was interviewed for various newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s and played in the England ladies' celebrity football team in the BSkyB
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....
-commissioned Celebrity World Cup Soccer Six.
In July 2006, The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
newspaper revealed that she was pregnant by Syed Ahmed
Syed Ahmed
Syed Ahmed is a British-Bangladeshi entrepreneur, businessman and television personality. He is the founder and CEO of the hand and body drier company SA Vortex. He is best known for his 2006 appearance in the second UK series of the BBC reality television show The Apprentice, in which contestants...
, a fellow contestant on The Apprentice, with whom she had formed a romantic relationship. After being admitted to hospital with stomach pains in August 2006, Dewberry was told that she had lost the baby.
Dewberry has subsequently ceased working for Sir Alan, and runs her own consultancy: Michelle Dewberry Ltd (MDL) and www.chiconomise.com. In total, she worked for him for 11 months.
In November 2006 she appeared in Celebrity Scissorhands
Celebrity Scissorhands
Celebrity Scissorhands is a reality show that is part of the BBC's Children in Need charity campaign, in which celebrities attempt to cut people's hair to raise money for the campaign while trained and watched by professional hairdresser Lee Stafford...
, a BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
reality show in aid of Children in Need
Children in Need
Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...
.
In 2007 she released an autobiography, Anything is Possible.
Dewberry also runs workshops for both companies and individuals, teaching them that "Anything is Possible" and focusing on goal-setting, self-belief, confidence and people skills. She is also a successful public speaker, contributing to a number of high-profile business events.
Dewberry appeared in the first test-of-skills challenge in the CBBC
CBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...
political reality television show Election
Election (CBBC)
Election is a BAFTA award-winning political reality show on BBC Television won by Quincy Washington, presented by Angellica Bell and judged by Jonathan Dimbleby. It first aired on Thursday 16 October 2008...
. She was the first celebrity mentor on the show and set the contestants a task in which they had to explain their unique selling point in thirty seconds.
In December 2009 Dewberry joined Business Matters magazine as a monthly columnist alongside Duncan Bannatyne
Duncan Bannatyne
Duncan Walker Bannatyne, OBE is a Scottish entrepreneur, philanthropist and author. His business interests include hotels, health clubs, spas, media, TV, stage schools, property and transport. He is most famous for his appearance as a business angel on the BBC programme Dragons' Den...
In July 2010 she opened Michelle Dewberry's Work and Money Surgery on women's lifestyle website iVillage.co.uk.
Web based businesses
Dewberry set up Chiconomise.com in 2009 and thedailychic.com as a 'Group Buying' aggregator in late 2010. In March 2011 she launched likebees.com. It is a social buying site aimed purely at the family market. In April 2011 she launched her employment programme for parents across the country.Charity work
Dewberry is an active supporter of various charities including the NSPCCNSPCC
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children is a United Kingdom charity campaigning and working in child protection.-History:...
, Prince's Trust, Make Your Mark, Children's Society
The Children's Society
The Children's Society, formally The Church of England Children's Society, is a UK charity allied to the Church of England and driven by a belief that all children deserve a good childhood.-History:...
and Women's Aid
Women's Aid
Women's Aid is a group of feminist charities across the United Kingdom. There are four main Women's Aid Federations, one for each country. Its aim is to end domestic violence against women and children...
. In 2007, she ran the London Marathon
London Marathon
The London Marathon is one of the biggest running events in the world, and one of the five top world marathons that make up the World Marathon Majors competition, which has a $1 million prize purse. It has been held each spring in London since 1981. The race is currently sponsored by Virgin Money,...
in 4hrs 33mins 20secs to raise funds and awareness for the NSPCC. She completed the 2009 London Marathon in 4hrs 26mins 23secs and is currently in training to compete in the MS Challenger 4 day event to again raise funds for the NSPCC.