The Apprentice's Victoria Goulbourne is well on her way to bagging a £250,000 investment.
The business competition returned to the BBC with one of its best line-ups in years and that is in no small part thanks to Victoria Goulbourne - the mind and face behind The Sweet Life UK. The online candy business flourished during the pandemic and, where other companies dropped off, Victoria's snowballed into a runaway success.
The Merseyside entrepreneur previously told the Liverpool Echo she was excited to see orders rolling in but nothing could have prepared her for the monumental jump in a year's time that would see her potentially stand next to Lord Alan Sugar.
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In that short time, The Sweet Life UK has transformed into a candy empire which Victoria says is a result of it becoming her main focus. Looking back on how the boom happened, she told the Liverpool Echo: "I was putting my full attention into the business.
"After coming away from doing Emirates [the airline she previously worked for], I just got really behind my business and I was just so excited watching the orders come in and the response from the products. Then the opportunity came along to go on to the show and I just thought, 'I want to expand the business,' so I thought what a perfect opportunity to have someone like Lord Sugar potentially invest."
Victoria is a long-term fan of the show so the concept was nothing new to her. After dissecting her business and everything it had to offer, she decided she was more than qualified to go head-to-head against other businesses and their owners. It was on a trip to Scotland that she finally sent off her application and on her first attempt, she managed to obtain her spot on the show.
She said: "I think one of the things is sometimes it just isn't enough to just have an incredible business and you do need that little extra something. I remember telling them in the audition I had that extra 10% and they were laughing at me like, 'What is it,' and I just said I didn't know but I just felt like I had that extra something."
That extra 10% was missing from the first episode as she was very nearly the show's first elimination. Moving through to week two with something to prove, Victoria was able to shine, carrying the girls to their first victory.
Reflecting on her newly formed fire, the 28-year-old said: "I thought we just have to work together and I think like we were all just so shocked at what had happened week one and we didn't want any of the other girls to leave so we just thought we're going to have to get behind each other here and work together. I think that really pays off and lead to and that's how we've ended up with a win."
Things don't often turn out as smoothly as they did as one of the show's biggest draws is drama. The intense back-and-forth entrepreneurs have with each other is the dash of reality television many tune in for and with so many strong, confident personalities, it can often feel like a boiling pot.
She added: "We're in a very high-pressure environment and we're also under time constraints so I think everyone wants to get their ideas across and voice their opinions. It's really difficult to sort of, you know, calm everyone down."
The show often sidesteps the bonds they create with one another but Victoria said everyone left the show feeling like a family despite the madness. The arguments viewers see are only a small part of their day but "what happens in the boardroom, stays in the boardroom."
Victoria said all of the cast agreed to never let the drama become too much for them as they will all take away a life-changing experience that no one else will have which no one wanted to taint.
Before forming her business, Victoria was a part of the Emirates crew which managed to somewhat help her in the first holiday-based challenge. That being said, Victoria admitted a lot of the show is winging it as no one is ever ready for what's around the corner.
Immediately after she found herself on the street selling bao buns which proved difficult, not because of the product but because of elements off-screen. She said: "A lot of people see a camera and they just run straight away. I think we just kept going.
"We just weren't going to let anything beat us. If someone said no, we just quickly moved on to the next person and some people didn't mind the camera and loved it so props to them."
Going into week three on a high, Victoria has now marked herself as one of the entrepreneurs to beat. She may potentially be weeks away from an elimination she shed some insight on what's in the fired candidates' suitcases. Victoria said: "I used to take my makeup bag and a pair of tights in case my tights plaided and a pair of comfy shoes."
When quizzed on why all of the eliminated entrepreneurs wore a coat for their exit shots, Victoria remained tight-lipped, laughing that she couldn't reveal any producer secrets.
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