The Apprentice: The gangland background of Lord Sugar's new employee Stella English
By Liz Thomas and Arthur Martin
Last updated at 3:53 PM on 20th December 2010Her childhood was blighted by violence and neglect and she spent much of her early life in care.
But last night steely blonde Stella English was hired by Alan Sugar to be his new apprentice on a £100,000 salary.
The 31-year-old mother of two will work as a product manager for the tycoon’s computer manufacturing firm Viglen.
She's a winner: Apprentice winner Stella English seen today as she carried out post-win interviews in London
Miss English said: ‘I felt I would win. I know that if I set my heart on something I will achieve it. I know I came across as quiet, serious and competitive but that is me in a business situation; I do have a softer side.’
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What viewers of The Apprentice might be unaware of, however, is her extraordinary and colourful early life.
Tough start: Thamesmead in south-east London, where Stella grew up and where parts of the ultra violent movie A Clockwork Orange were filmed
With her father absent and a mother unable to care for her, she lived a troubled existence in care homes and with various relatives.
As a teenager she would drink in one of London’s most notorious pubs.
Night after night gangs with knives and clubs would descend on the Wildflower pub in Thamesmead and start fights which usually ended in bloodshed.
Boardroom battle: Stella fought tooth and nail with rival Chris Bates to win the show
No hard feelings: Stella pictured today with Apprentice loser Chris Bates outside the This Morning studios
Here she mixed with some of South London’s most notorious crime families who were responsible for numerous killings.
The pub, which has since closed, was a focal point for criminal activity.
It was here that she met gang member and part-time bouncer Danny Johnson and embarked on a stormy nine-year relationship.
She is now engaged to Ray Dewar, a scaffolder with links to the criminal underworld in South-East London.
Groundwork: Stella is watched by Nick Hewer as she does some research before launching her new alcoholic drink in The Apprentice final
In 1993 he was cleared of threatening and intimidating witnesses who were due to give evidence against the son of a notorious gangster in 1993.
Police believed Mr Dewar passed £2,000 to one witness and £500 to another, saying: ‘This is how I sort people out, not by shooting them.’ However, a jury found him not guilty.
Miss English also had aspirations to be a model, posing in her underwear at the age of 19 on a balcony overlooking the Thames.
Confident: Despite her troubled upbringing, Stella has turned into an impressive businesswoman
By then her older half-brother Simon was already in a secure mental institution for burning down the children’s home in Essex in which he lived. It is doubtful if he will ever be released.
At some point during this extraordinary early life, Miss English found a desperate desire to succeed. She completed a one-year business course and rose fast as a business manager with leading City firms Merrill Lynch, Nomura and Daiwa Securities.
Although surrounded by colleagues who were far better educated, she worked 80-hour weeks to learn her trade and caught the attention of rival banks.
Road to victory: Stella was the only candidate to be leaving in a cab with a job this year after her boardroom encounter with Lord Sugar
Miss English, who now lives in St Albans, Hertfordshire, with Mr Dewar, said allegations that she had mixed with gangsters were ‘laughable’.
She insisted she was simply focused on providing a good life for her two children – sons aged four and two – and being a good mother.
She added: ‘I haven’t had the easiest time in the past and I hope I have shown you can still succeed. It has made me a bit tougher but also a bit stronger. The tough exterior is a coping mechanism after everything that has happened.’
Winner: Lord Sugar chose 31-year-old Stella English to be his Apprentice after she impressed him over fellow finalist Chris Bates
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Add your commentsComments (139)
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I applaud the girl - she shows that a person with aspirations and work ethic can rise out of the worst sink estates and better them selves.
- JennyO, Bexleyheath, Kent, 20/12/2010 16:51
Stella, named after the thing which caused her existence.
- Kennydk, Notts, 20/12/2010 15:56And this you know HOW - Kennydk? Have you pushed your way out of a not very good home situation and made something of yourself? Have you had the lack of advantage Stella has had and turned your life and prospects around by pure determination? If not then I think you should think twice before insulting someone you don't know and about whose background you know just about ZIP.
- Sar, Belgium, 20/12/2010 16:49
Never watch the show myself even Sugar dosnt rate it! Saying its too drawn out to fill tv scedules etc.
Seems STELLA being FEMALE caught Sugar daddys eye? Perhaps her tough background was
familer to SUGAR"s? Time will tell if she shows her true colours? IE Her alleged TEMPER?- PCONWAY, HOVE, 20/12/2010 16:48
Chris seemed like a safe pair of hands, but Stella has the sauce factor. She'll be a saucy apprentice.
- Jeremy Tapsill, London, 20/12/2010 16:46
Hypocrite, much, Haroon?
(Me = also raised on a council estate in the late 70s/early 80s).
- Ena Sharples, London, 20/12/2010 16:06No Ena I am not a hypocrite because I am saying I had the same opportunities as a much wealthier person. My background is absolutely no excuse to do badly.
- Haroon Abbasi, London, 20/12/2010 16:21
What does the Dm hope to achieve by trotting this stuff out. The girl's done well, so why try and bring her down?
- Phil, Sutton, 20/12/2010 16:21
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Monday 20 December 2010
The Apprentice 2010: The gangland background of Lord Sugar's new employee Stella English | Mail Online
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