Marnie Swindells,who won The Apprentice in 2023 with her boxing gym business, opened up about the backlash she received from some viewers

An Apprentice winner has opened up about her experience on the show and claims the BBC welfare team could have done more to prepare the candidates for social media abuse.

Marnie Swindells, who won season 17 of the show with her boxing gym business plan, said she was “not okay” when the first episode aired.

“You go through the process and you love every moment of the filming, the creating,” she said, “and you think all these great things are going to come out on the show. Then you watch the episode, and my jaw was on the floor.”

Marnie says she opened her phone to see that she was trending on Twitter and was being called an “idiot” by people online – who were even making fun of her outfits.

She said at a Flex and The City panel event ahead of the series 19 final: “I don’t think the welfare prepared us enough for afterwards, it’s a really important thing to talk about.

“I would have it out with welfare like ‘no one prepped me for this’, I was not ready. Until you are that person in those shoes no one will get it.”

Reece Donnelly, who appeared on the same season as Marnie, said: “I remember telling welfare ‘you did not tell me (viewers) were going to be like this’.”

However, he added: “You can’t have the highs and not have the lows” when it comes to appearing on television.

Raj Chohan, from season 18, said she was “really lucky” as she didn’t receive much hate throughout her time on the show.

She said other than a small group of supporters, viewers tended not to give her too much attention, which turned out to be a good thing. Raj said: “People thought ‘she’s old, she’s a mum of teenagers’.”

Marnie, the founder of Bronx, her boxing gym and club, said: “I will say, your skin gets thickened as it keeps happening, you do build up resilience to it.” She added: “The worst thing you can say about us is that we all gave it a shot”

Her life since winning the show has been “life-changing and surreal”, she said, Marnie said that “doors have been opened” after the final and the support from Lord Sugar has been “very real” – he has been to visit her gym twice since investing in her business.

The BBC has been contacted for comment.