Raw sugar! Meet Alan’s new Jewish apprentice

New York-born Amy Anzel, 48, is looking to impress in the new series of BBC One hit show The Apprentice which begins on Thursday

By Louisa Walters
  • Louisa Walters is Features Editor at the Jewish News and specialises in food and travel writing
 5 January 2022, 3:50 pm
Amy Anzel

She may be a nice Jewish girl from New York, but Amy Anzel, 48, says she can be hard as nails when she needs to be and will be representing herself as a tough boss when she comes up against the toughest boss of them all, Lord Sugar, in the new series of The Apprentice.

Amy grew up in Yonkers, New York. Her mother is from Brooklyn and her father, who sadly passed away in 2019, was from the Bronx. His Polish parents spoke Yiddish at home so he liked to use a few words here and there.

Amy moved to the UK with her husband Oliver in 2009 and they live in West London with their five-year-old son Jacob, who is named after Amy’s grandfather. Amy is a member of Westminster Synagogue.

“Oliver is Scottish and I’m Jewish so we always joke that we had a ‘Skewish’ wedding,” says Amy.

Lord Sugar with the candidates (back row left to right) Ashkay Thakrar, Stephanie Afflek, Aaron Willis, Francesca Kennedy Wallbank, Alex Short, Amy Anzel, (middle row left to right standing) Harry Mahmood, Kathryn Louise Burn, Conor Gilsenan, Harpreet Kaur, (bottom row left to right sitting) Akeem Bundu-Kamara, Nick Showering, Brittany Carter, Shama Amin, Navid Sole and Sophie Wilding, ahead of this year’s BBC One contest, The Apprentice.

Former actress Amy appeared on the 2014 documentary TV series The Sound of the Musicals. In 2016 she produced the UK tour of Happy Days, the musical based on the TV show and she also produced The Life at Southwark Playhouse the same year.

Having spent hours in makeup trailers and backstage dressing rooms, Amy was exposed to the tips and tricks of makeup artists and Hollywood celebrities. This inspired her to found her own beauty brand, Hollywood Browzer, a multi-functional beauty tool that shapes the eyebrows, removes unwanted hair on the face and body and exfoliates the skin. Amy is also a presenter on shopping channel QVC.

  • The Apprentice starts this Thursday, 6th January, at 9pm on BBC One, followed by You’re Fired on BBC Two. Watch live and on-demand on BBC iPlayer.

 

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