Southport The Apprentice candidate Victoria reveals her series highlight after getting fired

After being one of the stand-out candidates in this year’s The Apprentice, Victoria Goulbourne was fired by Lord Sugar after failing to impress with her business plan.

But the 29-year-old from Birkdale, who runs a successful online sweet shop The Sweet Life, says she’s been overwhelmed by support she’s had from fans of The Apprentice.

And she’s revealed what she found to be the best thing about going through the weekly tasks with millions of people watching.

“I would definitely say the highlight has been the group of friends that I’ve walked away with, being like-minded business friends,” says Victoria. 

“Now I can pick up the phone and call up to 18 people to help me with brainstorms and offer advice for things they’ve gone through before in their business. That and the fact that we got to go to Dubai and Antigua – the whole experience.”

With an all-female final five facing a grilling from Lord Sugar’s panel of advisors on The Apprentice, Victoria says being alongside a close-knit group of supportive women was another big plus of the process.

Even though they were ultimately in competition for the £250,000 investment, they still managed to cheerlead for each other.

“We managed it because we are genuinely all really good friends,” adds Victoria. “The friendship was built quite early, so it felt weird to be in competition with them but also have such strong support from the other girls. 

“I think that losing Emma in the first task was so upsetting and I was devastated that I couldn’t have done more for my team when I tried to give it my all. I think the girls just gelled together and it showed on the second task. I think we all realised how much we wanted it, and we knew we had to work together as a team and listen to each other. 

“We always said that whatever happens in the boardroom, stays in the boardroom. It really did. I don’t remember a time where anybody came back from a disagreement in the boardroom and brought it back to the house. Immediately, you would go and hug that person and it would just be left.

“I think we’re all just so invested in each other’s personal lives now. There was no negativity around it, we’re all just rooting for each other and excited for whoever gets the opportunity.”

Victoria’s photo-worthy pick and mix business, which she built the website for and started with just £250, has grown to more than Instagram 23,000 followers.

And the former air stewardess has no regrets about the decision she made, post-pandemic, to give up her previous high-flying career.

She explains: “When COVID hit, I got stuck in Dubai and because they closed their international borders, I couldn’t leave for eight months with a lot of my friends stuck in other countries. It was a scary time. 

“I remember getting an e-mail saying they were closing the international borders and they didn’t know when they would re-open. This was in March, when everything was getting really serious in the UK.  At that point, we didn’t know how bad it was going to get and so I was trying to panic buy flights that would get me back to the UK, but they all sold out. 

“After that, I just thought that when the borders opened, I was going to go home because the job just wasn’t the same anymore. I was flying once in a blue moon and it just wasn’t earning me any money, so that was the time to move home. I thought ‘What have I learned from Emirates that I can bring to something here?’

“I’ve always been creative, and I love making things. The food presentation was what I enjoyed the most about being an air stewardess, which I did in the VIP cabins. I can’t bake and I can’t really cook, so I just thought I’d do something cute and get some sweets to put boxes together. It started from that and ended up going really well on social media, I had a few viral videos within my first two months which catapulted it.”

Even though she didn’t make it through to the final two, losing out to salon owner Rochelle and Marnie, who plans to open boxing gyms, Victoria isn’t discouraged.

Posting on Instagram after her firing from the show, she wrote: “Thank you from the bottom of my heart, I’m overwhelmed with the support I’ve had from you over the last few months! It means the world to me. Although I did not win Lord Sugar’s investment, I’ll be forever grateful for the opportunity. Best of luck to the ladies left.”

The Apprentice returns to BBC One on Thursday