Leah Totton has beaten 15 other candidates to become the winner of series nine of The Apprentice, securing a business partnership with Lord Sugar worth up to £250,000.
In the end, Leah, 24, and Luisa Zissman, 25, were left to battle it out in the final, with the help of their former team mates. They spent three days producing campaigns for their business ideas, before presenting to 100 industry experts and Lord Sugar.
It was a tough decision for the business mogul, who summed up the difficulty of his task, saying, "We've got two very investable candidates here, it's not going to be an easy decision."
Luisa — whose business idea was to create a new baking brand — certainly put up a good fight. Given a final chance to explain why she should be chosen as his new business partner, she said, "The business that I'm pitching, I know will be profitable. "Also, as a person, I have a lot of business experience of starting and running businesses and I would love to have you as my business partner."
In her response, Leah — who presented a chain of medical cosmetic clinics — said, "I think I'm first of all pitching a fantastic business opportunity, completely unique and it's extremely lucrative. "And also, you're investing in me as a person and I genuinely think I'm a dependable, trustworthy person to invest in. And I really think that this is a fantastic opportunity for you and myself. "It was then time for Lord Sugar to make his final decision. "So, I think I've made up my mind now," he told the two women. "At the end of the day, the devil in me is wanting to take a risk. Leah, you're going to be my new business partner."
Leah is the ninth person to win the show, which began with the first series in 2005.Tim Campbell was the first winner, followed by Michelle Dewberry in series 2, Simon Ambrose in series three, Lee McQueen in series four, Yasmina Siadatan in series five, Stella English in series six, Thomas Pellereau in series seven, and Ricky Martin who won the show last year.
