Rachel Woolford was past night crowned the victor of bid 18 of The Apprentice - aft tirelessly moving for 3 years trying to acceptable up her boutique gym business.
The fittingness entrepreneur, 28, who launched North Studio during Covid, went head-to-head with chap finalist Phil Turner to unafraid Lord Sugar's £250,000 concern and signifier a concern with the concern mogul.
After she was declared the victor during Thursday's finale, she said landing the concern was 'something beyond my wildest dreams'.
And she told MailOnline that 1 of her 2 goals was making it down the aisle aft getting engaged to her semipermanent fellow Benjy successful December past year.
She said that Benjy supports her wholeheartedly and understands firsthand the sacrifices she has made by moving agelong hours successful mounting up her business.
Speaking connected Thursday, she added: 'I americium truthful fortunate to person a fiancé who besides has a concern truthful knows what it takes.
Rachel Woolford has been crowned champion of play 18 of The Apprentice (Pictured with Lord Sugar)
Rachel already has a database of targets she hopes to execute including expanding her gym concatenation to different bluish UK cities (Pictured successful The Apprentice boardroom)
Rachel is precise progressive wrong fittingness and appears to beryllium a instrumentality of moving (Pictured aft moving the New York Marathon successful 2019)
'If I'm moving precocious oregon missing something, helium knows it's concern particularly successful the archetypal fewer years... it's not an casual thrust and I'm truthful grateful from an aboriginal property I got stuck successful and I was ne'er enactment disconnected by things going wrong. I volition proceed to enactment similar that but present each the blood, sweat and tears were worthy it.
'I got engaged successful December past twelvemonth truthful a period earlier the Apprentice started airing. We haven't really acceptable a day yet due to the fact that I person been a small busy, but we program connected getting joined adjacent summer.'
The 28-year-old hails from Leeds and opened her archetypal fittingness workplace successful the metropolis earlier adding a 2nd astatine Wellington House connected Cold Bath Road successful Harrogate past year.
The gym's website explains: 'We're not your emblematic gym. We won't necktie you down with yearly contracts oregon analyzable cancellation clauses, due to the fact that we cognize we're bully capable to support you coming backmost for more.
'Instead, we connection a scope of flexible options suited to each budgets and committedness levels.'
Rachel, who helped her squad unafraid a record-breaking £38.7 cardinal successful sponsorship during a task earlier successful the series, said connected Thursday: 'I was 24 years aged erstwhile I started North Studio.
'I was conscionable a miss from Leeds and present I cannot judge it, I'm going into concern with Lord Sugar and he's investing successful me.'
But it appears that Rachel has had the concern oculus since she was lone 7 years old.
She explained: 'When I was 7 years old, I went missing - lone for my frantically disquieted mum to find maine by the roadside selling my toys shaking a biscuit tin afloat of coins shouting 'toys for sale, everything indispensable spell today!'
Rachel besides revealed the biggest situation she faced during the process was being distant from her concern and her friends and family.
Speaking to section Harrogate paper The Stray Ferret successful February, she said: 'It's changed my life. It's not adjacent astir it airing – adjacent if it hadn't been connected TV it would inactive person changed my life.
Rachel grew up successful Leeds and established her archetypal gym conscionable earlier the Covid-19 pandemic
Rachel revealed the biggest situation she faced during the process was being distant from her concern and household (Pictured successful New York)
'It made maine measurement distant from my business, which nary 1 could ever usually marque maine do. It made maine deliberation astir what I wanted to alteration successful the business, wherever I wanted to instrumentality it and majorly took maine retired of my comfortableness zone. It takes superior balls to do.'
During an interrogation with Excelle Magazine successful 2022, Rachel gave a snapshot into her beingness and vocation arsenic fittingness workplace owner.
She said: 'Experiencing the fittingness marketplace in London , New York and LA and pursuing the manufacture information that radical fittingness classes were successful higher request than ever, I felt Leeds was missing retired connected something.
'The large commercialized gyms weren't delivering what consumers were looking for immoderate more.
'Consumers demanded flexibility successful however to wage for their gym and variability successful types of radical workout classes connected offer.'
Looking to the future, Rachel said she would usage the concern to 'expand crossed the north' and hoped to rotation retired much sites successful York oregon Manchester.
She said: 'My concern program going successful was to beforehand and grow North Studio. It's astir making definite we supply a accordant work to rotation retired successful the caller locations.
'North provides a precise idiosyncratic radical workout, the full constituent is for it to springiness clients a mounting of being remembered and known.
'It's not an intimidating oregon competitory environment. It's amusive and I privation fittingness to beryllium thing radical look guardant to – a societal happening – alternatively than dread. Inclusivity is my biggest thing; anyone is welcome.'
She attended The Grammar School successful Leeds, which is charging £17,523 successful fees for it's elder schoolhouse for the 2024/25 world year.
Rachel said she would usage Lord Sugar's concern to 'expand crossed the north'. Pictured: At the opening of 1 of her gyms
According to her societal media, Rachel appears to beryllium a keen runner
Paying tribute to Rachel arsenic an alumnus, the schoolhouse said: 'From leaving a postgraduate strategy successful bid to travel her guts, to making that spread successful the marketplace enactment for her, Rachel proved that a fulfilling vocation is not ever a consecutive pathway.'
Growing up, she was besides a keen equine rider and was a subordinate of Bramham Moor Pony Club.
They posted connected Facebook: 'A large congratulations and bully luck to erstwhile Bramham Moor PC subordinate Rachel who has made it to the last of this years Apprentice.'
She besides appears to beryllium a keen runner, according to her societal media and took portion successful the New York Marathon successful 2019.
During the last boardroom, Lord Sugar's aides, Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell, shared their thoughts connected the 2 finalists.
Of Woolford, Baroness Brady said: 'This concern is her beingness and her passionateness for it truly comes across.
'The contented truly is conscionable however costly it is to unfastened gyms, and she'll pain done your concern beauteous quickly.'
And Campbell felt the fittingness workplace proprietor was a 'great advocate' for her merchandise and service, but questioned if she could standard her concern beyond the gyms she had already done.
After the 2 finalists presented their last pitches to Lord Sugar, the concern magnate came to his decision.
He said: 'This is simply a precise pugnacious decision, I've got to accidental due to the fact that I've got 2 very, precise credible radical successful beforehand of me.
'I've got Rachel who claims she's making wealth and that she's going to marque adjacent much erstwhile she gets the 2nd gym up and moving - but gyms are, with each owed respect, two-a-penny.'
Rachel has acceptable 2 caller goals aft being crowned 2024 champion – signing up Alison Hammond arsenic her archetypal personage lawsuit successful her gym concern and getting married
Alongside getting married, her different extremity is to sign up Alison Hammond as her archetypal personage lawsuit successful her gym business.
She said: 'It's an honour to person been chosen by Lord Sugar and for him to put successful my concern which astatine the extremity of the time is my babe and thing I person been moving connected for astir 5 years now.
'For him to spot thing successful maine and deliberation my concern is investable is conscionable an unthinkable and overwhelming feeling.
'I americium truly looking guardant to moving with Lord Sugar for a fig of reasons. He is investing a batch of wealth into maine to alteration my concern to turn to unfastened a 3rd tract and perchance a fourth.
The fittingness entrepreneur from Leeds has go the 5th pistillate campaigner successful a enactment to triumph Lord Sugar's concern aft beating pastry store proprietor Phil Turner successful Thursday night's final
The Apprentice victor says she is appreciative of her partner, Benjy, who arsenic a chap concern proprietor supports her wholeheartedly and understands firsthand the sacrifices she has made
'We don't person a batch of large celebrities successful Leeds and Harrogate but I would emotion Alison Hammond to travel in, she's hysterical.
'I met her past week erstwhile I went connected This Morning and she is truthful large and funny. I cognize Lord Sugar cycles too... I would emotion to get him connected a rotation bike.'
She went connected to accidental that she helium has coped with moving agelong hours and often missed retired connected spending clip with friends.
She said: 'It's that clip wherever everyone is going retired socialising, holidaying, I person missed retired connected a fewer things due to the fact that I felt similar I couldn't permission my business, it has ever been my no1 precedence and it has paid disconnected evidently but erstwhile you're successful those archetypal fewer years, it's tough.
'It was the toughest and you ever question if you're doing the close happening and those precocious nights, aboriginal starts, things spell incorrect successful the archetypal fewer years, and you larn from them... astatine the clip you're similar what is the acquisition from this? And six months aboriginal the acquisition is apparent.'
Rachel bushed rival Phil to triumph The Apprentice this twelvemonth aft presenting her concern to manufacture professionals from the likes of upmarket gyms F45 and Barry's Bootcamp
As the 5th consecutive pistillate victor of the BBC series, Rachel hopes she tin animate a younger procreation of women to spell into concern and not beryllium discouraged by their gender, particularly erstwhile moving successful a antheral dominated situation similar the fittingness sector.
Boxing gym proprietor Marnie earned the rubric past year, which Rachel says further cements Lord Sugar's knowing of the imaginable earning powerfulness the fittingness and wellness manufacture has to offer.
She said: 'The fittingness manufacture is traditionally precise antheral dominated wrong gym owners and idiosyncratic trainers and instructors truthful I americium truly arrogant to beryllium a pistillate that owns a fittingness concern and astir of my squad speech from 2 are each strong, almighty women and I'm truthful arrogant to enactment alongside them and wherefore shouldn't we beryllium capable to bash it?
'We're successful precise antithetic markets successful presumption of location, London is simply a full antithetic kettle of fish. I perceive Marnie has a large business.
'It's large Lord Sugar has invested successful fittingness businesses 2 years successful a row... helium has evidently realised the manufacture is booming, particularly since Covid, it's had specified a affirmative impact.'
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