Inside the board room she is Lord Sugar's trusted aide, but Karren Brady is also very close with the Apprentice boss away from the cameras.
Karren has stated that she will never replace Lord Sugar on the BBC show and the pair have made another secret pact regarding their friendship.
The Baroness became the business tycoon's right hand woman back in 2009 when Margaret Mountford stepped down from the role.
But Karren and Lord Sugar first became friends many years before that - and it wasn't the first time she had worked for him on The Apprentice.
In March 2017, Karren was trying to impress Lord Sugar as the team leader for the girls in the first ever The Celebrity Apprentice for Comic Relief.
Karren led her team, which featured comedian Jo Brand, singer Cheryl Cole, Corrie actress Maureen Lipman and fashion guru Trinny Woodall, to victory against the boys by raising £750,000 for charity.
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The following year, Karren was one of the interviewers giving the contestants a grilling in series four of The Apprentice.
After the show, Karren fulfilled a promise she made to Lord Sugar by offering candidate Claire Young, who was the eventual runner-up, a job after being impressed during the interview.
She returned to make more contestants sweat in 2009, then later that year it was announced that Karren was taking over from Margaret.
Karren and Lord Sugar have both been heavily involved in football over the years, which can lead to "bickering" between the pair as they have rival teams.
She became the managing director of Birmingham City in 1993 at the age of just 23 and since 2010 has been the was vice-chairman of West Ham United.
While Lord Sugar was the chairman and part-owner of his beloved Tottenham Hotspur from 1995 until 2001, then sold his remaining stake in 2007 for £25m.
They are also both members of the House of Lords, with Lord Sugar being crated a life peer of Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney in July 2009.
While Karren was created Baroness Brady, of Knightsbridge in the City of Westminster when she became a Conservative life peer in August 2014.
However, Karren insists that they have made an agreement which will stop them every losing their friendship over football or politics.
"Alan and I have a lot of banter about football. We always say friendship is first, football is second and politics is last," she revealed this month.
"We are both in the House of Lords and we both have our football teams.
"But our friendships always come first ahead of any of that."
They are so close that they have even bene on holiday together along with Lord Sugar's other aide, Claude Littner, and their respective partners.
Karren and Claude are invited to join the big boss on his yacht ever summer, but they didn't go last year due to the Covid pandemic.
"Yes, we're very close. We spend a lot of time together. We've been on holiday together, we talk a lot, and we're close family friends with our partners and children," she told The Mirror this month.
"We love working together, we respect each other, we have each other's backs and we understand the demands of the show. It’s a very demanding show, The Apprentice.
"It's very long hours, lots of travelling and you have to be on top of everything at all times. So we rely on each other to help one another through it, and that respect we have for one another and that friendship is genuine.
"It makes filming the show so much more pleasurable."
They even have a WhatsApp group to stag in touch and have been sending Claude photos from the latest series as he has been unable to take part due to his horrific bike crash last year.
There will not be any awkwardness when Lord Sugar decides he's finished with The Apprentice as Karren has vowed to leave with him.
When asked if she would step into his shoes, Karren told Radio Times: "I think we came into this together and we'll leave together."
And when questioned on whether fellow aide Littner would also leave with her, she quickly replied: "Definitely."
"We've all known each other for such a long time," she added. "The reason the show works well is because we get on really well. We're good friends."
Karren has also stated that she has a lot of friends who do not get on with their TV colleagues, so it makes a refreshing change that they are close in real life.
Back in 2019, Claude himself has also stated on Twitter : "If Lord Sugar leaves The Apprentice, so will I."
While Karren does love her role on The Apprentice, she has admitted to making one big mistake at the start of her time as Lord Sugar's aide.
Karren has previously admitted she regrets not taking her predecessor's advice when she joined the show.
Admitting it was the best thing anyone told her before starting, Margaret warned her to "wear trainers" because she will be on her feet for 12 hours a day.
"And of course I didn't take her advice," said Karren. "First episode I wore heels, and at the end of my first day I remember I was laying in the bath and my feet were throbbing.
"And I quickly took Margaret's advice and wore the trainers. So I've learned I can't stand on my feet for more than 12 hours a day without wearing trainers."
*The Apprentice airs tonight on BBC One at 9pm
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