Michelle Louise Faye Dewberry (born 9 October 1979) is a British businesswoman, presenter, and media personality. Dewberry won the second series of British television programme ''

The Apprentice An apprentice is someone who is in training for a trade, profession. The Apprentice or Apprentice may also refer to: Television * ''The Apprentice'' (American TV series), the original reality television series * ''The Apprentice'' (franchise), ...

''.

Early life

Dewberry was born and raised on a

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. D ...

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

Humberside Humberside () was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in Northern England from 1 April 1974 until 1 April 1996. It was composed of land from either side of the Humber, created from portions of the East Riding of Yorkshire, West Riding of ...

, England. Leaving school at 16 with two GCSEs, Dewberry worked at

St John Ambulance St John Ambulance is an affiliated movement of charitable organisations in mostly Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries which provide first aid education and consumables and emergency medical services. St John organisations are primari ...

, KCOM and Kwik-Save. When Dewberry was seventeen, her nineteen-year-old sister, Fiona, was killed when she fell from a building. After working her way through the ranks at

Kingston Communications KCOM Group (formerly known as Kingston Communications and latterly KC) is a UK communications and IT services provider. Its headquarters are in the city of Kingston upon Hull, and it serves local residents and businesses with Internet and telep ...

, Dewberry was head-hunted by ISP

Tiscali Tessellis S.p.A. (formerly Tiscali S.p.A.) is an Italian telecommunications company founded in 1998 and based in Cagliari, Sardinia, that provides Internet and telecommunications services in Italy, and, previously had operations in other Eur ...

as a

project manager A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the Project planning, planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined star ...

. After a successful period at Tiscali, and aged 24, she decided to start her own business, a "transformation consultancy".

''The Apprentice''

In 2006 Dewberry won the second British series of reality TV show ''

'', in which candidates compete for a £100,000-a-year (at the time) job working for businessman

Alan Sugar Alan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar (born 24 March 1947) is a British business magnate, media personality, author, politician, and political adviser. Sugar began what would later become his largest business venture, consumer electronics company A ...

After ''The Apprentice''

In 2006 Dewberry started a business consultancy. In 2007 she published her autobiography, ''Anything is Possible''. In December 2009, Dewberry joined the magazine ''Business Matters'' as a monthly columnist. She appeared on ITV gameshow '' The Chase'' in 2016 alongside Olympic ski jumper

Eddie the Eagle Michael David Edwards (born 5 December 1963), better known as Eddie the Eagle, is an English ski jumper and Olympian who in 1988 became the first competitor to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping, finishing last in the Normal Hil ...

and musician

Shaun Ryder Shaun William George Ryder (born 23 August 1962) is an English singer, songwriter and poet. As lead singer of Happy Mondays, he was a leading figure in the Madchester cultural scene during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1993, he formed Bl ...

. She got through to the final with Edwards but failed to beat

Paul Sinha Supriya Kumar "Paul" Sinha (born 28 May 1970) is a British professional quizzer and comedian. He has written and performed extensively on BBC Radio 4, and is one of the six Chasers on the ITV game show '' The Chase''. Early life Supriya Kum ...

. She was awarded £1,000 which she gave to a charity for abused women. In April and October 2017, Dewberry made appearances on BBC's '' Question Time''. She appeared on the programme again in March 2018. She was a frequent panellist on ''

The Pledge Pledge may refer to: Promises * a solemn promise * Abstinence pledge, a commitment to practice abstinence, usually teetotalism or chastity * The Pledge (New Hampshire), a promise about taxes by New Hampshire politicians * Pledge of Allegianc ...

'' on

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

. In 2021, it was announced that Dewberry would join the news channel

GB News GB News is a British free-to-air, editorial, opinion-orientated television and radio news channel. The channel is available on Freeview (UK), Freeview, Freesat, Sky UK, Sky, YouView, Virgin Media and via the internet on Samsung TV Plus, LG web ...

with a prime time show. ''Dewbs & Co'' airs at 6 pm on weeknights on the channel.

Politics

Dewberry stood as an independent pro-

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

candidate in the 2017 general election in Hull West and Hessle. She came fourth out of seven candidates, with 5.5% of the vote. She stood again in Hull West and Hessle in the 2019 general election for the

Brexit Party Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has been Leader of Reform UK and Richard Tice deputy leader since 2024. It has five members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons and one membe ...

. She came third with 18% of the vote. She is a supporter of

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

Charity work

In 2007, Dewberry ran the

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

in to raise funds and awareness for the

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity founded as the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC) by Thomas Agnew on 19 April 1883. The NSPCC lobbies t ...

. She also ran in 2009. She is also an ambassador for

Women's Aid Women's Aid Federation of England, commonly called Women's Aid within England, is one of a group of charities across the United Kingdom. There are four main Women's Aid Federations, 3 for each of the countries of the United Kingdom, and one for t ...

and

The Prince's Trust The King's Trust (formerly the Prince's Trust) is a United Kingdom-based charity founded in 1976 by Charles III, King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds w ...

Personal life

She was in a relationship with fellow ''Apprentice'' contestant Syed Ahmed during and after the show, before their relationship ended in late 2006. Dewberry has spoken about her struggles with

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

, depression and suicidal thoughts. On 22 July 2020, after experiencing PPROM at just 28 weeks pregnant, Dewberry gave birth nine weeks early to her first child, a baby boy. Dewberry's partner and father of their son is businessman and former

Crystal Palace Football Club Crystal Palace Football Club, commonly referred to as Crystal Palace or simply Palace, is a professional football club based in Selhurst, South London, England, which competes in the Premier League, the top-tier of English football. The club ...

owner

Simon Jordan Simon Jordan (born 24 September 1967) is an English businessman and media personality. He is the former chairman of Crystal Palace Football Club, and is currently a co-presenter on the weekday mid-morning sports programme Talksport, ''White an ...

Electoral history

2017 general election

2019 general election

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dewberry, Michelle 1979 births Living people 21st-century British politicians 21st-century British women politicians Independent politicians in England Reform UK parliamentary candidates Businesspeople from Kingston upon Hull British charity and campaign group workers British political commentators Politicians from Kingston upon Hull The Apprentice (British TV series) winners GB News newsreaders and journalists