I sued Alan Sugar after winning The Apprentice… the show left me with £90 in the bank and ended my marriage
A MUM who won The Apprentice claimed she was left with just £90 and a broken marriage after suing Alan Sugar.
Stella English said she fell into poverty just three years after coming out on top of the show, and finances became so tight she couldn’t even afford a birthday present for her son.
The mum found fame on the BBC One show more than a decade ago, and in 2013 claimed she was forced to apply for benefits after everything came crumbling down.
English then dragged Lord Sugar through the courts, alleging constructive dismissal after leaving his company.
She lost her case and while the judge ruled she would not have to pay legal costs, it cost English a £200,000 a year consultant job with Citigroup.
MailOnline reported the mum said in court in 2013: “I cannot afford to feed my kids let alone pay the mortgage – that doesn’t even matter anymore.
“It is my son’s birthday today but I can’t afford to buy him anything because everything we have goes on trying to survive.
“A couple of weeks ago I made an application for housing benefit and there is an interview set up. I have no choice.”
English claimed she had just £90 left in her bank account at the time and no one would hire her.
She said as soon as companies realised who she was she wouldn’t hear back.
Before landing a £100,000 job with Lord Sugar when she won the 2010 BBC series, English worked as a £80,000-a-year bank trader.
She had enjoyed a luxury lifestyle with £600 meals of lobster and caviar, £300 designer shoes and three homes reportedly worth £1million.
Land Registry deeds were said to reveal English bought the first flat in 2005 for £250,000 and the second for £245,000 in 2007.
But both were expected to have climbed in value in the years that followed.
It all came to a head for the mum after Lord Sugar claimed she knowingly lied when she said the £100,000-a-year job at his firm was a sham.
She had alleged that on her first day at work she was told: “The cameras have stopped rolling now… Welcome to the real world, there is no job.”
However, the tribunal ruled there was no evidence to support English’s allegation that she was unfairly treated.
The businessman’s lawyers then claimed she brought the original legal action against him simply because she was “bored” with her day job and missed the fame attached to appearing on television.
MailOnline reported Lord Sugar was trying to win back £35,000 in legal costs and damages.
At the time, the mum also claimed one of her homes was about to be repossessed, too.
She said: “The immense pressure as a result of the tribunal, and in particular, statements made by the respondent [Lord Sugar] attacking my credibility has been a major contributor to the breakdown of my marriage.
“I feel unfairly penalised for standing up to such a powerful opponent.”
‘IT WAS UNBEARABLE’
Weeks later she claimed she wished she “had never gone on The Apprentice“.
Appearing on ITV‘s Daybreak in 2013, English said: “I’m broke and on my knees. I just don’t know how I’m going to carry on.
“Despite the salary, I couldn’t actually physically stay there, because it was unbearable. I had no future there, I knew that’s why I resigned.”
However, the mum was said to have gone on to build an impressive career in the years that followed.
KentLive reported English moved on to YouView TV Limited, before becoming Chief of Staff at a financial services company, Citi, in 2012, then shifting into a role as a Management Consultant at HP.
As of January last year, she worked at a motivational speakers agency and also hosted CrowdBox TV, a service designed to promote entrepreneurs and crowdfund their projects.
She also found love again, announcing she was pregnant in 2017 with boyfriend Ali Carter.
The Sun has approached Lord Sugar’s representative for comment.
Earlier this month a former candidate opened up on secrets from the BBC show.
Ryan-Mark Parsons claimed tasks were “fixed” and candidates were banned from speaking up about it when confronted by Lord Sugar.
He exclusively told the podcast Showbiz Unfiltered: “There is a lot of producing involved.
“For example in every single task – and this is something the viewers don’t see – before we even get started, off-camera we read a dossier and that says all of the things we can do and all the things we can do.
“For example, if we the task is about creating a logo, it might say you can only use the colours green and orange.
“So then that’s it, that’s our choice.”
Meanwhile, The Apprentice star Claude Littner revealed he lost his spot in the show’s boardroom after he took time out as a result of his health battle.