Inside the life of The Apprentice’s first Influencer candidate who used TikTok to build her seven-figure business and shared EVERYTHING online including a ‘life changing’ boob job, shock split and scandalous BBC ‘rule break’

The Apprentice returns to screens on January 30, and among the power suits and cringe-worthy pitches is a viral sensation who has hit the headlines before the BBC show even begins.

Boardroom bombshell Amber-Rose Badrudin has found herself the breakout star among the 18 entrepreneurs vying for Lord Sugar‘s £250,000 investment, thanks to her complicated love life and sideline as a social media star, proudly declaring she is the show’s first ever influencer candidate.

Over the past two years the 25-year-old has used social media to turn her Asian convenience store in Croydon into a viral sensation. Oree Mart now boasts 470,000 followers and over 300 million views across platforms. 

Amber-Rose herself boasts a whopping 48million likes on TikTok, building her following as an influencer by documenting her beauty treatments, her holiday travels and working in her shop.

And when she was finally able to share the news of her TV debut with her followers this month, Amber-Rose admitted she felt ‘extra pressure’ to perform well on the show to make those tens of thousands of followers proud.

‘You guys have watched my business journey, have watched me grow as a person from when I was making videos in my store when we were a tiny mini-mart,’ she gushed to her followers in a Get Ready With Me vid where she spilled all on the show whilst plugging her favourite makeup products. 

The Apprentice returns to screens on January 30, and among the power suits and cringe-worthy pitches is a viral sensation who has hit the headlines before the BBC show even begins

Boardroom bombshell Amber-Rose Badrudin has found herself the breakout star among the 18 entrepreneurs vying for Lord Sugar’s investment, thanks to her sideline as a social media star

‘I really wanna be able to break the stigma around influencing and content creating,’ she declared. ‘My business has been fuelled by social media. Over the past two years my business has turned over seven figures, that is because of social media.’

No topic is off-bounds for the social media star, who last October vlogged her breast enlargement and uplift surgery in full.

She spoke out on her reasons for the surgery in a lengthy post, explaining how she had suffered since she was a teenager with self-esteem issues because of her ‘asymmetrical boobs’.

Within moments of coming round after the surgery and despite being in what she admitted was unbearable pain, she told fans she had picked up her phone to share her experience.

The Apprentice though has bought Amber-Rose her first taste of scandal after she was reportedly caught in a hotel room with a co-star while working on a task abroad, despite the show enforcing a strict ‘no touching rule’ with the contestants.

Muddying the waters further, is Amber-Rose’s relationship with her ex-boyfriend and current business partner Michael Nguyen – with eyebrows raised over the timings of the split and whether she had been unfaithful on the show. 

Her ex Michael frequently features in her videos, with the pair working amicably at their Asian mini-mart in Croydon. 

They announced their split on social media last year with Amber-Rose taking to TikTok to share a lengthy 10-minute denial about the Apprentice rule-break scandal, insisting that she had split from her boyfriend of four years before the alleged incident.

Amber-Rose pictured in the early days of her business, before she dyed her hair red (left). The 25-year-old shares glamorous snapshots of her lifestyle on social media 

Over the past two years the 25-year-old has used social media to turn her Asian convenience store in Croydon into a viral sensation. Oree Mart now boasts 470,000 followers

The Apprentice though has bought Amber-Rose her first taste of scandal after she was reportedly caught in a hotel room with a co-star. Muddying the waters further, is Amber-Rose’s relationship with her ex-boyfriend and current business partner Michael Nguyen (pictured)

On her Tap Water podcast where she discusses business, life and friendship with her friend Saffy, she also rubbished suggestions that she had dumped Michael after losing weight and having a glow up.

Saffy raised how online speculation was laying the blame for the break-up at Amber-Rose’s feet, saying: ‘You’ve lost all the weight, you’re just a shallow little cow.’

Amber-Rose said that this was completely untrue, explaining:  ‘Everyone thinks I’ve done him over, he’s crying in a corner somewhere. I’ve glowed up and he’s rotting. Michael’s lost 20kg. He goes to the gym twice a day. 

‘He’s literally nearly got a six pack. His skin’s never been better. He’s grown a beard.’

In a separate social media video, she claimed the ‘most painful’ part of the online discourse were the cheating rumours, insisting: ‘I categorically never, ever, cheated on Michael. 

There’s so much love and respect between myself and Michael. The fact is, myself and Michael were broken up a while before we announced it on social media. 

No topic is off-bounds for the social media star, who last October vlogged her breast enlargement and uplift surgery in full

Within moments of coming round after the surgery and despite being in what she admitted was unbearable pain, she told fans she had picked up her phone to share her experience

‘I know that, Mike knows that and I think it’s very, very normal for couples who have been together a long time to just take their time when it comes to announcing something like a breakup online. 

She also insisted that the reports of her being in a hotel room with a co-star had been ‘twisted’ and that it had ‘not come from the BBC.’ 

While she didn’t deny the incident had occurred, she insisted she was ‘not read the riot act’ by producers or reprimanded for any sexual behaviour. 

Michael has been part of both Amber-Rose’s rise to fame and her business success. The couple left their sales jobs after Covid restrictions lifted and started scouting locations for their shop. 

‘The space we got was a shelving unit, so we literally went through the process of building the entire shop from scratch,’ she told MyLondon. 

‘I kind of took the reins on designing everything, I came up with a brand concept and name and then I started promoting it on TikTok.’

Amber used TikTok to share a lengthy 10-minute denial about the Apprentice rule-break scandal

The pair made six figures in their first six months of trading, attracting customers from as far afield as The Netherlands and Amber-Rose has been open about the fact that The Apprentice will only boost her business, with or without Lord Sugar’s investment. 

After TikTok’s vital role in Amber-Rose’s success, the social media platform may have now revealed a massive spoiler for The Apprentice as fans think they have spotted a ‘giveaway clue’ as to her fate on the show in one of the boardroom bombshell’s videos.

A recently posted video shows the businesswoman revealing that she’s working on a new business. 

The caption says: ‘When we opened our first shop nearly three years ago, we sat on the floor and shared a box of chicken and chips together and couldn’t believe we had done it.

‘Today we got the keys to our new shop, ready to start the renovations and build a new business.

After TikTok’s vital role in Amber-Rose’s success, the social media platform may have now revealed a massive spoiler for The Apprentice as fans think they have spotted a ‘giveaway clue’ as to her fate on the show in one of the boardroom bombshell’s videos 

‘We did the same thing, it’s become a tradition. We can’t wait to share this new chapter with you.’  

In the comments section, one fan wrote: ‘Yeh she definitely won.’ Another added: ‘Omg imagine if she won and that’s why she’s doing a new business venture alongside Oree Mart.’  

The Apprentice airs on BBC One on Thursday night at 9pm.