BBC's The Apprentice is swiftly nearing its finale with only three more weeks to go. Mia Collins, who grew up in Cheltenham, is a rising star with a chance to win the competition as Lord Sugar has dubbed her the 'silent assassin.'
Meal prep entrepreneur Mia, 25, doesn’t shy away from a challenge; with her direct speech, exceptional culinary skills, and passion for sales, she has achieved multiple wins on the show thus far and has avoided being brought back into the boardroom. Speaking exclusively with Gloucestershire Live, Mia has shared her thoughts on being labelled the 'silent assassin' by Lord Sugar.
Mia said: "I think, as you've seen, my delivery can be quite direct. I'm very to the point. And I think that works well in the business world. I don't necessarily know why I was called a silent assassin, but we're rolling into week nine now, and I'm still here. So, I can only see it as a good thing.
"But yeah, I mean Baroness Brady has also been very complimentary of me as well. Baroness Brady is an icon. So to know that she thinks I'm good and I'm a good problem solver, it's been nice hearing what they say about you when you leave the room from the boardroom situation because obviously her, Tim and Lord Sugar kind of talk about you all individually a little bit and we don't get access to hear that until the show comes out. So, it's definitely nice knowing that I've had people fight my corner when I've not been there."
The Apprentice is now into its 19th series and continues to follow a group of aspiring young entrepreneurs battling it out for Lord Sugar's £250,000 investment and mentorship. The challenge is not for the faint of heart due to its mentally and physically draining tasks, working in unpredictable teams and building up a thick skin when facing Lord Sugar's witticisms.
In her introduction segment on the show, Mia stated that "her level of competitiveness is disgusting" and has proven this each week. But how did Mia become so competitive? Before donning blazers and suit trousers on the BBC, Mia was in the gym bodybuilding.
Mia shared: "I'd been training in the gym for a few years, and I felt like the range of equipment that was offered in my old gym just wasn't sufficient anymore. I wanted to try to elevate my training style and muscle mass. So I did a bit of research in gyms in Bristol, and Trojan Fitness came up as really, really highly recommended."
Despite being considered a male-dominated industry, Mia is confident and comfortable, stating: "I don't really feel that it's more men or more women because I expose myself to the circles of women who do bikini competitions. But what they've recently done is add a new criteria called fit model, which basically reduces the barrier to entry for women who want to get involved in the sport.
"It's essentially, you need less muscle mass to be able to do it. It's actually a lot about developing stage confidence and kind of being very comfortable in the skin you're in and showing off something you've worked really hard to develop because, as we all know, building muscles really hard, and sometimes you just want to show people what you've done."
Nonetheless, Mia said her competitiveness has been a personality trait since she was young, saying: "I think there's actually a lot of transferable skills from sport and entrepreneurship because most of the sports I've done previously, whether it's athletics or bodybuilding, it's very much a single-person event.
"I'm very much of the opinion what you put in, you get out, and that's exactly how I see The Apprentice. I wanted to look back and know that I couldn't have done any more if I tried. And if it didn't work, then I could look back and know that I really gave it a good go.
"With bodybuilding, you're constantly having to look forward to a long-term goal and a long-term target. There's a lot of delayed gratification involved in it. You're on prep for 14 plus weeks, cheat meals, and no off-plan meals.
"And I think The Apprentice is very similar in that you've got 12 weeks of an arduous, really challenging process, and you just can't take your eye off the ball at any time because you have to put your best foot forward on every single task, and I think prep is really similar to it. To be honest, I feel like it really prepared me for just keeping focused and just keeping going."
The Apprentice is known for the drama in the boardroom, with competitors often falling out. However, Mia candidly states that contestants never bring their animosity into the house when the show wraps up. She said: "You make friends for life, we all speak very regularly. We see each other every single week. And you leave it in the boardroom because it's a competition, and if it's not them, it's you at risk.
"So you all have a kind of mutual agreement that you don't take problems to the house, and it's purely for competition. But we've all got the same bond and the same experience. So it's not. I'm glad that I can share it with the people that I had on it this year."
Alongside her competitive nature, Mia is a great cook, and as seen on the show, she has won many food-centred challenges. Mia studied catering for her GCSEs and food science for her A-levels, where she claims she always got 100% for her coursework. Her first job was as a baker for the Boston Tea Party in Cheltenham Town Centre: "I remember I took in my GCSE coursework as my CV, and that was it. And I got the job," she said.
If she wins the competition, Mia will open a fully catered meal prep service, providing freshly cooked meals every week and delivering them straight to your door. "It’s healthy, balanced food designed and prepared by a bodybuilder—ideal for those with fitness and nutrition goals."
Despite being a food connoisseur and dominating the food challenges, Mia says her favourite challenge involved sales. Mia beamed to Lord Sugar in an upcoming episode.
"It feels like a treat more than a task," she said.
You can catch Mia dominating The Apprentice on BBC One at 9pm or on BBC iPlayer.
