TV stars 'snubbed' by Lord Sugar over invite to the first ever The Apprentice wedding
The Apprentice winner Harpreet Kaur is tying the knot with her fellow contestant Akshay Thakrar - but will Lord Sugar be part of the wedding party?
The Apprentice's Harpreet Kaur and Akshay Thakrar say they've been snubbed by Lord Alan Sugar after not receiving a response to their wedding invitation. The pair's big day represents the first-ever wedding taking place between contestants who met each other on the show.
The couple promised that if Lord Sugar did want to be present, he'd have a key spot on the head table. However, it has since been revealed that the BBC business mogul "politely declined because he is busy".
Harpreet was a hit with notoriously difficult-to-please Lord Sugar, even winning a £250,000 investment from him for her dessert parlour Oh So Yum. She has since bought his shares back from him so that she can maintain creative control over her business.
However, there are not thought to have been any hard feelings, and he - along with Karren Brady and Tim Campbell - were all sent invites to her nuptials. Her fiancé is the founder of the betting strategy website Tips 360, and he also appeared on The Apprentice back in 2022.
The pair now have their dream home together in Bradford and are planning multiple celebrations. These include a civil ceremony in Pontefract so Harpreet can introduce Akshay's family to the north, and a traditional Indian wedding with an epic reception to celebrate in London.
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Harpreet revealed that she regards wedding planning as similar to an Apprentice task for Lord Sugar - and she's not overly stressed or daunted.
She told the BBC: "When you work in business you're very capable of juggling multiple plates at once, so I found this like another Apprentice task really."
Discussing how the pair were in fierce competition against each other at the start, and rivals for Lord Sugar's attention and investment, she recalled that a different mood altogether set in after the show.
She gushed that it was "surreal that love blossomed on the show".
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Referring to her business success, Harpreet explained that her strict father hadn't been too pleased about her desire to start her own venture when she first told him of her dreams.
"I come from an extremely traditional background so growing up, my dad always told us to study hard and go into medicine, law or banking because they are seen as well-paid jobs," she explained.
"Opening a business is seen as a risk and in some Asian cultures it may not be seen as favourable as being a homemaker."
She continued: "My dad was proud of me because I used to be in banking and thought going into business was risky... but safe to say by the time I won The Apprentice he was super proud of me."
The married couple now have their own podcast, The Couple's Boardroom, which is available on Spotify and Apple, and sees them discuss their upcoming wedding in greater detail.
