Who won The Apprentice? Series 19 final recap (2025)

After 12 weeks of tasks and challenges, buying and selling, promotions and excuses the quest is over – Lord Sugar has found his next protégé.

Eighteen eager entrepreneurs were whittled down to just two over the course of this season’s The Apprentice on BBC One.

And in Thursday night’s final episode, one of them was chosen receive a a life-changing £250,000 investment and the chance to form a 50/50 partnership with the billionaire businessman.

From creating tour packages to producing a chilli sauce, selling on shopping channels to building a banking app, the candidates have been asked to test their business acumen to the limit over the series.

But it in the end it all comes back to the boardroom, where the big decisions are made.

This is the 19th series ofThe Apprenticeand already plans are under way for a 20th, with Lord Sugarinviting people to apply for next year.

Who won ‘The Apprentice’ series 19?

Finalists Anisa Khan and Dean Franklin went head-to-head in the last task, with the help of some of the candidates fired earlier in the series, to bring their own business plans to life.

They produced advertising campaigns to showcase their entrepreneurial ideas before taking on the biggest pitch of their lives to Lord Sugar and industry experts.

Dean hoped to expand his air conditioning firm into homes and commercial properties, while Anisa wanted to extend the reach of her Indian-Italian fusion pizza business with dark kitchens in high-demand areas.

Back to the boardroom, Lord Sugar’s trusted aides Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell MBE shared their thoughts on the process.

Baroness Brady said: “I like Dean. I think the issue for him is he doesn’t know how to scale up. This is where he needs you.

“He’s lacking that bit of confidence on if the decisions he’s making are the right decisions.

“And I think you’ll give him that push that you need.”

While Campbell said: “Anisa is a wonderful candidate.

“She’s bright, really articulate, and really clear about what she wants to create.

“The challenge is always going to be, is it big enough for you?”

After a last impassioned pitch from each finalist on why they should become his business partner, Lord Sugar made his final decision.

He said: “This is the way I see it.

“Dean, through the process, you’ve been quite good.

“There’ve been a few rocky moments where you remained in it by the skin of your teeth, but do I have the confidence in the residential market?

“As opposed to food, where everyone’s got to eat, and a £10, £12 pizza is affordable to most people.

“That’s where I am at the moment.”

He added: “I’m going to say that – Dean you’re going to be my business partner.”

How did Dean react to winning The Apprentice?

Father-of-two Dean Franklin, from Essex, established his air conditioning business during the pandemic.

His firm has already won a Best Tradesperson of the Year award in 2022-23 and he had his sights firmly set on The Apprentice prize from the start.

After learning he had won on Thursday night’s show, he said: “I can’t believe I’ve just won The Apprentice.

“This is going to mean the world to me and my family.

“My kids are going to be over the moon.”

Before starting the process, he had commented on his and Lord Sugar’s shared interests.

He said: “I honestly believe me and Lord Sugar are very similar.

“I can relate to a lot of things he has said and done in the past.

“He is very passionate about science and electronics and that’s pretty much what air conditioning is, this is what he has done in his businessesand it’s what he knows.

“This is right up his street.”

By the time he got down to the final five candidates, he admitted the process had been tougher than he expected.

“It was a lot harder than what I thought”, he said, “But it was also a lot better than I thought as well.

“So it had two sides of the coin.”

But he added: “We’ve done some amazing stuff. There’s things you’re never gonna do again in your life.

“So I was grateful for that. Some massive life experiences there.”