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The Apprentice star ‘plummeted into agony’ after watching dad die when she was 8

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The Apprentice star ‘plummeted into agony’ after watching dad die when she was 8
The Apprentice star ‘plummeted into agony’ after watching dad die when she was 8

ONE of The Apprentice's 2023's biggest characters heartbreakingly "plummeted into years of sheer hopelessness" after witnessing a family tragedy.

Marnie Swindells has told how she saw her beloved dad's "sudden death" when she was just 8-years-old.

One of the new candidates on The Apprentice tragically lost her dad when she was eight qhiukiuiqxhprw
One of the new candidates on The Apprentice tragically lost her dad when she was eightCredit: PA
Marnie Swindells is one of the 18 new candidate vying for £250,000
Marnie Swindells is one of the 18 new candidate vying for £250,000Credit: PA

Marnie, who will debut on screens up and down the country tomorrow as part of the 2023 series of The Apprentice, says it left her pining for another life.

In an emotional  Instagram post after qualifying as a Barrister in 2019 following years of study, Marnie penned: "Many people don't know this but I actually grew up in a caravan with only my mum by my side.

"I was 8 years old when I witnessed my dad's sudden death, a moment that plummeted my little world into a pit of sadness, agony and sheer hopelessness.

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"Even at that age I was so conscious of my reality and I remember lying in the silent hours of the night wondering if this was all there was for me in this life.

"I would watch my school friends with their two-parent families in their big houses with their fancy toys and I desperately longed to be part of that 'other' world that to my young eyes seemed so utterly perfect."

In one of the most colourful backstories ever for a contestant on the hit BBC series, Marnie channeled her pain to better her life and went on to become a gold medal winning boxer.

She then studied for countless legal exams while working as a boxing trainer before being called to the Bar in October 2019.

Alongside a string of proud shots of her ready to take to the stand, Marnie continued: "I dedicated my entire adult life trying to transcend the barrier between the world I was born into and the world I wanted.

"Yesterday signified the exact moment I crossed that bridge. To many people this may seem like just the next step in my career but to me this was the colossal moment that I secured my place in the land of the giants and that little lost girl inside me screamed with pride because she finally knew she could have everything she ever wanted.

"She knows this was not our intended path, we don't belong here and this was never our destiny but what's destiny to a determined girl who has nothing to lose?"

In July last year she handed in her notice to become her own boss and launch her own business.

Later this year she will open her own boxing club, Bronx, in South London.

Explaining her decision at the time, Marnie said: "Walking away from a career that I literally tortured myself to get was hard, but you know what's harder? Staying in a place when you know you have more to give.

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"Don't play it safe, don't get comfortable and don't ever settle for less than what you are capable of.

"Be bold enough to close one chapter, in order to open the next."

Marnie has worked hard to change her fortunes
Marnie has worked hard to change her fortunesCredit: INSTAGRAM/MARNIE SWINDELLS

The Apprentice starts on Thursday, January 5 at 9pm on BBC One.

Jack Hardwick

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