One year on from winning a life-changing £250,000 investment for her dessert parlour business, Oh So Yum, Harpreet has revealed what it was really like living with 15 strangers – including who does the cooking.
Intense filming hours
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The businesswoman has also opened up on her working relationship with Sir Alan Sugar 12 months on and what really goes down in the boardroom when the cameras stop rolling.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Harpreet revealed that filming each task would take up to “three to four full days” leaving the candidates shattered by the end of it.
She told us: “Filming is super intense, it’s something I didn’t anticipate at all.
“The task takes three to four full days to film.
“You’re constantly wired from 4am to 12 at night, everyone is really tired.
“It’s an amazing production, I couldn’t believe it as I’ve never been in TV before.
“I was gobsmacked at how much work it takes to put the show together, there is a lot of filming and only so much can make the edit.”
This year the new crop of candidates will be sent on a luxurious-sounding excursion to the beautiful island of Antigua for their first task.
Ahead of the first episode, Harpreet said that new format will up the pressure on the candidates.
“Antigua – It’s really cool, I think it puts the candidates even more out of their comfort zone,” she said.
“You’re catching that long haul flight – I don’t think they would have that much time to enjoy Antigua because the tasks and filming are long and intense, so I think the heat would add even more pressure.”
Looking impeccable at 4am
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Harpreet – who always looked impeccable on task days – revealed that they have less than half an hour to make themselves presentable before facing Lord Alan Sugar at the crack of dawn.
“Honestly I don’t know how we did it, I wish I could get ready that quickly now,” the dessert shop owner said.
“I think when you’re forced to do something, you can make it happen.
“We used to just use loads of little tricks, like line-up your makeup brushes, pre-select your outfits for the three/four days.
“Genuinely we just had those 20 minutes at 4am, which looking back we managed to pull it together.
“I don’t think I could do it now. But all of these extra factors – the cameras, the high heels all day, having to get ready in 20 minutes – all of that intensity for me was just noise, I just cancelled it out.
“But my laser focus was on the task, when it’s time to wind down at night you realise how exhausted you are and actually your feet really hurt.”
Boardroom secrets
After 12 weeks of gruelling tasks, Harpreet said there was one part of the challenge that she looked forward to every week – the dreaded boardroom, despite the process taking hours to film with no breaks.
She said: “There are no breaks in the boardroom, unless you lose and you get to go to the café.
“It is a long day of filming even in the boardroom, that’s why you want to win a task because then you can get out of there.
“But luckily I was hardly in the losing team, I didn’t often feel that intensity of having to fight for yourself until later on in the show.
“For me, I genuinely looked forward to the boardroom as I went on the show to meet Lord Sugar and tell him about my business, so why wouldn’t I want to sit around that table with him.”
Living with your competitors
It may not be easy to live with 15 strangers who are all competing for the same prize, but Harpeet admitted that she loved switching off after a task with her fellow co-stars, saying there was no bad blood in the house.
She said: “It’s not an easy process and it can get really intense but in our year we had a really good friendship.
“We all respect each other and are there for your own goal.
“You leave whatever happens in the boardroom and when that task is done, you are so relieved and just move on.
“I really enjoyed living with everyone and got on with everyone.”
Romance in the house
Harpreet – who is currently dating her co-star Akshay Thakra – said there was little time for romance in the house.
She opened up about her blossoming relationship and said: “Me and Akshay started dating after filming and after the show aired on TV.
“It’s crazy as it just proves that anything can happen really, I was really focused in the house on the end goal so I didn’t see anything apart from that. But we’re doing really well.”
Going from strength-to-strength, she continued: “He’s even given me a few ideas and he’s been really supportive.
“I’m having a relationship with someone who has been through the same experience as me and who is also very business minded, we just bounce off each other – I think we’re a good duo.”
Food budget
After long hours of filming, the last thing you’d want to do is cook a meal, so how do the candidates get their food?
Harpreet revealed: “On the show, we are not allowed access to your phone and not allowed anywhere without a chaperone and with the food on task days you had catering.
“You get fed breakfast, lunch and dinner – I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t the best catering, usually a cold quiche. And then on days off, you would have to cook for yourself.
“Someone would order in for us, you’d tell them what you want to cook a meal and if anyone is around you’d ask if they want this as well.
“So even if you want to cook a quick lunch for yourself, you’d end up having to feed the whole house, I didn’t mind as I like cooking anyway.
“If it was a boardroom day, we’d be allowed a takeaway in the evening, but we’d all order from the same place.”
Winning advice
Ahead of the new series, Harpreet has shared her best tips on succeeding on the BBC One business show.
“There is a lot of pressure, if you were given that task on a normal day it would be tricky but you’ve got cameras on you,” she said.
“The biggest tip I would give, is just be yourself, approach the task in hand and present the best version of yourself. Forget about the competition for a minute.”
The Huddersfield star impressed Lord Sugar with her sweet shop business after beating Kathryn Burn in the final.
Harpreet wracked up an impressive 9/11 wins for the series and was never called back into the boardroom by her fellow candidates.
The hard-worker said toiling in her parents’ shop had given her the confidence to succeed.
Sugar said he liked the fact she was “a bit of a bossy boots” but Harpreet said she was a timid child, something chatting to shop customers helped her overcome.
The budding businesswoman said the hard graft she put in at mum and dad Jas and Pete’s corner store in Brighouse, West Yorks, also helped her towards her victory.
She continued: “I would say have your business ready, if you have a business idea then start getting it in motion.
“If you get the investment from Lord Sugar, fantastic, but you’re also on a platform in front of millions of people, you don’t know who’s watching, so you’ve got all of that potential of people who may want to do business with you.”
Harpreet said she has huge plans for her business and it’s just the beginning for her and Lord Sugar’s partnership.
“It’s crazy how much we have achieved in such a short space of time.
“We’ve opened an additional store in Bradford, we’ve launched the nationwide delivery platform, we are stocked in Selfridges now, we’re working on an events range.
“So there is a lot that has happened but I’m equally excited of more opportunities and hoping to partner with other brands. There is so much I want to achieve and where I can see this partnership going.”
Harpreet has teamed up with Simply Business, one of the UK’s largest providers of SME insurance, insuring over 850,000 small businesses and landlords across the UK.
They recently brought together a panel of inspiring small business speakers for an Empowering Women in Business networking event to explore the experiences and obstacles women face as business owners.
She told us: “I’m really passionate for women to achieve the best version of themselves.
“As women I feel we have to juggle a lot more than the average person. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what age, gender, race.
“I believe I’m here today because of my achievements as a person and yes we have to battle a few extra things, but there’s no reason we can’t be the best version of ourselves.”
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