Michelle Dewberry

Michelle Dewberry
Born
Michelle Louise Faye Dewberry

(1979-10-09) 9 October 1979 (age 45)[1]
Kingston upon Hull, Humberside, England
Occupations
  • Businesswoman
  • presenter
  • media personality
Political partyReform UK
PartnerSimon Jordan

Michelle Louise Faye Dewberry (born 9 October 1979) is a British businesswoman, presenter, and media personality.[2]

Dewberry won the second series of British television programme The Apprentice.[3][4]

Early life

Dewberry was born and raised on a council estate in Kingston upon Hull, Humberside, England.[5][6] Leaving school at 16 with two GCSEs, Dewberry worked at St John Ambulance, KCOM and Kwik-Save.[6][7] When Dewberry was seventeen, her nineteen-year-old sister, Fiona, was killed when she fell from a building.[8][9]

After working her way through the ranks at Kingston Communications, Dewberry was head-hunted by ISP, Tiscali as a project manager. After a successful period at Tiscali, and aged 24, she decided to start her own business, "transformation consultancy".[10]

The Apprentice

In 2006 Dewberry won the second British series of reality TV show The Apprentice, in which candidates compete for a £100,000-a-year (at the time) job working for businessman Alan Sugar.[11][12]

After The Apprentice

In 2006 Dewberry started a business consultancy.[13]

In 2007 she published her autobiography, Anything is Possible.[14] In December 2009, Dewberry joined the magazine Business Matters as a monthly columnist.[15]

She appeared on ITV gameshow The Chase in 2016 alongside Olympic ski jumper Eddie the Eagle and musician Shaun Ryder. She got through to the final with Edwards but failed to beat Paul Sinha. She was awarded £1,000 which she gave to a charity for abused women.

In April and October 2017, Dewberry made appearances on BBC's Question Time. She appeared on the programme again in March 2018. She was a frequent panellist on The Pledge on Sky News.[16]

In 2021, it was announced that Dewberry would join the news channel GB News with a prime time show. Dewbs & Co airs at 6 pm on weeknights on the channel.[17]

Politics

Dewberry stood as an independent pro-Brexit candidate in the 2017 general election in Hull West and Hessle.[18][19][20] She came fourth out of seven candidates, with 5.5% of the vote. She stood again in Hull West and Hessle in the 2019 general election for the Brexit Party.[21][22] She came third with 18% of the vote.[23]

Charity work

In 2007, Dewberry ran the London Marathon in 4 h 33 min 20 s to raise funds and awareness for the NSPCC.[24] She also ran in 2009.[25][26] She is also an ambassador for Women's Aid and The Prince's Trust.[5]

Personal life

She was in a relationship with fellow Apprentice contestant Syed Ahmed during and after the show, before their relationship ended in late 2006.[27][28] Dewberry has spoken about her struggles with mental health, depression and suicidal thoughts.[29][30][31]

On 22 July 2020, after experiencing PPROM at just 28 weeks pregnant, Dewberry gave birth nine weeks early to her first child, a baby boy.[32] Dewberry's partner and father of their son is businessman and former Crystal Palace Football Club owner Simon Jordan.[33]

Electoral history

2017 general election

2017 general election: Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle[34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Emma Hardy 18,342 53.1 +3.9
Conservative Christine Mackay 10,317 29.8 +12.3
Liberal Democrats Claire Thomas 2,210 6.4 −3.6
Independent Michelle Dewberry 1,898 5.5 +5.5
UKIP Gary Shores 1,399 4.0 −15.9
Green Mike Lammiman 332 1.0 −2.0
Libertarian Will Taylor 67 0.2 +0.2
Majority 8,025 23.3 −6.0
Turnout 34,565 57.4 +3.6
Registered electors 60,181
Labour hold Swing −4.2

2019 general election

2019 general election: Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle[35]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Emma Hardy 13,384 42.0 −11.1
Conservative Scott Bell 10,528 33.0 +3.2
Brexit Party Michelle Dewberry 5,638 17.7 +17.7
Liberal Democrats David Nolan 1,756 5.5 −0.9
Green Mike Lammiman 560 1.8 +0.8
Majority 2,856 9.0 −14.3
Turnout 31,356 52.8 −5.5
Registered electors 60,409
Labour hold Swing −7.1

Notes

  1. ^ "Michelle Louise Faye DEWBERRY personal appointments – Find and update company information – GOV.UK". Companies House. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Why Hull's Michelle Dewberry is backing this special kind of school". Hull Daily Mail. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Ex-cashier wins TV's Apprentice". BBC News. 10 May 2006. Retrieved 11 May 2006.
  4. ^ Land, Jon (29 September 2006). "Apprentice winner to quit Alan Sugar's company". 24dash.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 28 August 2007.
  5. ^ a b "Michelle Dewberry". Michelle Dewberry. Archived from the original on 17 February 2006. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Four months after Sir Alan said: 'You're hired', Apprentice star tells him: 'I'm off'". theguardian.com. 30 September 2006. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  7. ^ "'Sweetheart, believe in yourself' – How Apprentice star Michelle Dewberry triumphed over adversity". Yorkshire Post. 8 February 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  8. ^ "The Apprentice's Michelle Dewberry opens up about her depression". hellomagazine.com. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  9. ^ "Michelle Dewberry opens up about battle with depression". mogaznews.com. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  10. ^ "Michelle Dewberry". casting.uk.net. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  11. ^ "Sir Alan hires Dewberry after winning The Apprentice final" Archived 29 July 2012 at archive.today, Brand Republic, 11 May 2006
  12. ^ "Chic economics for the chicks". The Sunday Times. London. 26 October 2008. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011.
  13. ^ "Apprentice winner quits prize job". BBC News. 24 September 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2006.
  14. ^ "Where Are They Now? – The Apprentice | Sir Alan Sugar | MSN TV". Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  15. ^ "Bannatyne & Dewberry join Business Matters". Business Matters. 17 November 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  16. ^ "The Pledge: Sky News' Weekly Discussion Show". Sky News. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  17. ^ Hall, Deborah (14 June 2021). "Michelle Dewberry 'nervous' about GB News debut with Dewbs & Co". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  18. ^ "Apprentice winner Michelle Dewberry to stand for Parliament". BBC News. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  19. ^ Ling, Thomas (5 May 2017). "The Apprentice winner Michelle Dewberry to stand for election as Hull West and Hessle MP". Radio Times. London. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  20. ^ Campbell, James (5 May 2017). "Former Apprentice star Michelle Dewberry to stand for Hull MP". Hull Daily Mail. Archived from the original on 5 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  21. ^ "Former Apprentice winner Michelle Dewberry running for Brexit Party in Hull". Metro. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  22. ^ "Ex-Apprentice star Michelle Dewberry says the North is treated as "an afterthought" as she stands for Brexit Party in Hull West and Hessle". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  23. ^ "Hull West & Hessle Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  24. ^ "Flora London Marathon 2007 Results". London Marathon. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  25. ^ "Celebs run the London Marathon" (Press release). NSPCC. 1 April 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  26. ^ "Flora London Marathon 2009 Results" (Press release). London Marathon. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  27. ^ Dewberry, Michelle; Billowes, Mel (2008). Anything Is Possible. Orion Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-7528-8257-4.
  28. ^ Sugar, Alan (2015). Unscripted: My Ten Years in Telly. Pan Macmillan. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-5098-0305-7.
  29. ^ "Michelle Dewberry opens up about depression battle". www.itv.com. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  30. ^ GoodtoKnow (21 February 2017). "'I had made the decision to end my own life' Michelle Dewberry opens up about her battle with depression". GoodtoKnow. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  31. ^ "Michelle Dewberry: Depression doesn't discriminate, says woman who had it all". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  32. ^ "The Apprentice star Michelle Dewberry welcomes baby son nine weeks early as she details complicated pregnancy". 21 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  33. ^ "Michelle Dewberry finally leaves hospital with son after six week stay". hulldailymail.co.uk. 3 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  34. ^ "Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle – 2017 Election Results". General Elections Online. Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  35. ^ "Hull West & Hessle". BBC News. Retrieved 14 December 2019.

References

Preceded by The Apprentice (UK) winner
Series 2 (2006) 		Succeeded by