Family: Apprentice winner Stella English with her fiance Ray Dewar who has been linked to the criminal underworld
She grew up on a council estate, mixed with some of South London’s most notorious crime families before winning The Apprentice.
But now Stella English is set to marry Ray Dewar, a scaffolder with links to the criminal underworld in South-East London.
Alan Sugar’s newest recruit, 31, became engaged to boyfriend Dewer after landing the coveted role with the high-profile entrepreneur.
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.
Prior to Dewar, Stella spent a stormy nine years with gang member and part-time bouncer Danny Johnson.
And although Stella has bagged the top job with Alan Sugar and her is looking bright her upbringing was turbulent.
Her childhood was blighted by violence and neglect and she spent much of her early life in care.
She's a winner: Apprentice winner Stella English seen today as she carried out post-win interviews in London
What viewers of The Apprentice might be unaware of, however, is her extraordinary and colourful early life.
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.
Tough start: Thamesmead in south-east London, where Stella grew up and where parts of the ultra violent movie A Clockwork Orange were filmed
Boardroom battle: Stella fought tooth and nail with rival Chris Bates to win the show
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.
Miss English also had aspirations to be a model, posing in her underwear at the age of 19 on a balcony overlooking the Thames.
No hard feelings: Stella pictured today with Apprentice loser Chris Bates outside the This Morning studios
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
Source:Dailymail