Beauty business owner Karishma Vijay has been named the winner of The Apprentice, following an all-female final.
Lord Sugar told the 28-year-old she was hired and had secured his £250,000 investment during Thursday night’s finale of the BBC show, which is now in its 20th year.
Vijay, who was in the final two alongside recruitment consultant Pascha Myhill, said she may “never get over this experience”.
She added: “Nothing in my life will ever compare.”
The final episode saw Vijay, from Ashford, Surrey, and Myhill, from Reading, Berkshire, go head to head in a task to develop a brand and advertising campaign for their respective business ideas.
Neither finalist had to face the final task alone, as a number of previously-fired candidates returned to help them.
They then presented their businesses to Lord Sugar and a room of leading industry experts, as well as familiar faces from the show’s past 20 years including Margaret Mountford, Nick Hewer, Ricky Martin and Dean Franklin.
After two strong business pitches, it all came down to the final boardroom where Vijay and Myhill both made their case directly to Lord Sugar as to why they should be his next business partner.
Lord Sugar said: “As always, it was a close competition in the final after two outstanding pitches by two brilliant young businesswomen.
“But Karishma really impressed me throughout the process and has proven why she deserves my investment.
“She’s a proper grafter and she’s got that entrepreneurial spirit that I always look for. The cosmetics industry is one I know a lot about, and I know our partnership will pave the way for a bright future.”
Vijay said she feels like Lord Sugar’s backing means she has “the godfather of business behind my shoulder now”.
She added: “I feel like I’m going to be calling Lord Sugar every other day, saying ‘what do I do now? I don’t know what I’m doing’.
“Because when I was doing it by myself, I was going at my own pace. Now, there’s a bit more pressure, because I have to really convince him that he made the right decision to have picked me.”
Vijay said she cannot wait to grow her beauty business, Kishkin.
“Kishkin should be everywhere; duty free, billboards, Sephora, Harrods, Selfridges, all the big places,” she added.
“There should be a little Kishkin counter where all the girls can run in to buy their new skincare fix. I just want our brand to continue to make products that work miracles on skin.”
