He’s been described by Lord Sugar as one of The Apprentice’s "most credible” candidates and by Baroness Karren Brady as "impressive”. But former garage star Tre Lowe says the tragic loss of his musician brother was the biggest reason for him signing up for the BBC One series.
Tre, who is now one of just five final candidates vying for a £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar, was left devastated when his brother Ashley Akabah was found dead in his flat in Notting Hill, West London, on February 2nd 2020. He was 49.
Tre and Ashley in Architechs
Ashley as a youngsterThe wellness entrepreneur and coach, who performed with Ashley in the hit 90s garage act Architechs, says: "Ashley is one of my biggest reasons for living right now. "A lot of who I am I owe to him. His death was one of the most challenging things I've ever had to deal with in my life.”
Family believe Ashley died of Covid complications, months before the start of the UK’s first lockdown. Together with Tre, the successful songwriter and producer remixed for artists including Usher, Justin Timberlake and Mariah Carey. They became famous for hits including the 1998 remix of The Boy Is Mine and the 2000 single Body Groove.
Tre's siblings
Tre has impressed on The Apprentice (BBC/FremantleMedia Ltd)Opening up for the very first time about what happened, tearful Tre, 49, says he was leaving the gym in West London with his now wife, Enas, when his father called to deliver the tragic news.
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He explains: "Just thinking about my dad’s voice is hard because it’s just so vivid. Dad was crying and my dad never cries. He’s a proper Nigerian man. He said, 'Your brother’s gone’. Enas took the phone and I just remember collapsing in a lump on the street. I couldn’t speak. Then my next thought was to ‘run, run’ to my brother’s house. So that’s what I did.”
When Tre arrived at his brother’s home, an ambulance and police were there, along with his brother Andrew. Andrew had called them out after being unable to contact Ashley for days and growing concerned.
Tre said: "Andrew was there looking absolutely distraught. I remember running up the stairs to the flat and the police saying, ‘You can’t go in. You don’t want to see him like this.’ It was insane because I knew he was gone but I just wanted to check he was OK. It was that raw pain of wanting so badly to say goodbye to him and give him a hug that was so hard. You never expect a sibling to go early and no parent should ever bury their child. I take care of my parents a lot and the impact it had on them and family was enormous too.”
Post-mortem results indicated Covid complications may have been responsible for Ashley’s death. Tre said: "The post-mortem didn’t test for Covid, because it was so early, but he had all the classic markers. He was asthmatic. He was a smoker. When he died, he had blood sepsis. His lungs were filled with fluid. The fact he was a black male, and therefore more likely to get Covid, made it likely too.
Tre's wife Enas Daeki (Instagram)"My brother could be a bit reclusive and there were periods when we wouldn’t see each other. As we got older we were all busy, doing our own things. It had been about a month since I’d gone to his. From what I heard [from other family] he’d had these symptoms for about two weeks. He couldn’t walk more than 30 yards without wheezing. He clearly had symptoms that should have meant he went to hospital. Instead, he went to the GP who gave him antibiotics, I think not realising what he was dealing with.”
Tre, who mentors and coaches other entrepreneurs, says it’s a major reason he’s so passionate about getting men to reach out for help and share their feelings more openly. It’s also a reason that his business plan for Lord Sugar is to produce Wellness shots to improve men’s health.
Tre as a child
The TV star with Myleene KlassTre shared a moment before Ashley’s funeral with him but still feels his brother’s presence with him every day, including during The Apprentice.
He says: "I always associated little birds with Ashley because one time when I was recording Body Groove this bird flew onto the roof and refused to leave and I felt like it was Ashley coming to see how we were doing. When I filmed The Apprentice there were little birds everywhere. I just felt that I was talking to him and he was there.
"Some days I’d be laughing; other days I’d be crying. But every single morning, no matter what, I’d take a cup of tea and go and sit in the garden and speak to him. I always had a sense that he was wetting himself laughing. I think because neither of us grow up thinking about fame, he’d be going, ‘What on earth are you doing on TV?’ And I almost have this laugh and banter with him.”
The pair saw each other a month before Ashley’s death. But it was after that Tre discovered his plans to make more music in America. Tre says: "What really stuck with me was the police saying to me that there was mail at the flat, including a passport. I learnt later that my brother was planning to go to New York to shoot a video and that’s why he’d got it. It was on the other side of the door to where his body had laid, at the bottom of the stairs.
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"As part of my coaching, I always tell people to ‘live your life now because tomorrow is not guaranteed’. I just remember thinking that he never got that opportunity; he never got tomorrow. That was one of the reasons that, when the opportunity to do The Apprentice came, it felt like the right thing. My brother’s legacy for me is his brilliance and his talent. Even though my brother’s death was painful as it is, and as hard as it is to talk about, it was also a reminder to live life to the full.”
Tre with Alesha Dixon
The contestant with Emma ThompsonTre and Ashley won international acclaim in Architechs, after producing a 1998 garage remix of Brandy and Monica’s "The Boy Is Mine.” They went on to remix for artists including Whitney Houston, All Saints, Gabrielle and Jamelia. Their platinum-selling 2000 hit Body Groove, featuring vocals from Nana, made it to number three in the UK Singles chart.
Despite the group’s success, Ashley didn’t enjoy the limelight. Tre says: "My brother was so talented but he just wanted to be in the background. He didn’t want to be rolled out for awards shows, things like that. People don’t realise that the male voice on Body Groove is Ashley’s voice because if you watch the music video we got someone else to lip sync.
"That’s because he didn’t want to be that face, and nor did I. It was MC Splash fronting it instead. We just always had this dream. I remember there was this one time when we were outside the MoBo Awards thinking, ‘One day we’re going to be there’. A couple of years later we were, alongside Mariah and Usher, up for an award."
Since the start of the series, Tre has bowled over the judges. Lord Sugar has described him as "one of the most credible candidates” in the series. Baroness Karren Brady told him he was "impressive” after his team secured a record-breaking £38.7million in sales for a Formula-E task during episode five.
His Instagram is also awash with pictures of him with celebrities - including Emma Thompson and Jonathan Ross. But he insists: "I’m not a big fan of the showbiz world. There’s a lot of fakery and insecurity behind the facade of glamour. I’ve met a lot of people at awards shows. There are people like Myleene Klass and the Spice Girls who I first met years and years ago and I met Jonathan Ross at a Brits party and he is just a beautiful soul and such a laugh. But I don’t have loads of celeb pals at all.
"It wasn’t an immediate, natural choice for me to do The Apprentice because I’ve already been part of the fame game and the thought of being on TV didn’t necessarily resonate with me but I was struck by my brother’s death. I just remembered, your life is not about you Tre.
"Your life is about making a difference. And let your brother’s death be something that reminds you that other people may not get a chance to say goodbye or let go of some past trauma. So whatever you might find challenging for you, going on TV, in this case, you’ve got to do it. It’s such an important thing for me. I always do what’s uncomfortable and that’s why I’m always passionate and driving and wishing the best.”
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