As The Apprentice reaches it’s final nail biting conclusion on Thursday evening, Lord Alan Sugar will once again be revealing which contestant has earned his highly sought after investment to help get their business of the ground.
The 74 year old star, has been making the dreams of contestants come true since 2005, when he first launched The Apprentice and kickstarted the businesses of the winning contestants, by offering both a cash investment and his impressive business knowhow to help them reach their full potential.
Yet while it’s no secret that Lord Sugar is one of Britain’s best known business heavyweights, with a net worth in excess of £1.21 billion – one thing that is less common knowledge, is that Lord Sugar is also a dedicated family man away from our screens.
Here, we take a look at everything we know about Lord Sugar’s family life, including his Eastenders connection.
Early life
Lord Sugar was born on the 24th March 1947, around 18 months or so since the end of WW2.
Born in Hackney, East London to Jewish parents, the business mogul’s father Nathan, carved a name for himself as a professional tailor in the East End.
Originally, the young family lives in a council flat, and during his younger years, Lord Sugar was already showing a keen interest in business as he worked at a greengrocers while studying at Brooke House Secondary School in Upper Clapton.
Leaving school at the age of sixteen, Lord Sugar soon began working for the Ministry of Education as a statistician, before eventually going on to launch Amstrad, the computer company, with just £100 of Post Office Savings.
Sibling tragedy
One little known fact about Lord Sugar, is that he was not, as you might think, an only child, and actually had three siblings, two sisters and a brother.
Very little information is known about his siblings, Derek, Daphne and Shirley, except that all three of them are older than the business mogul.
Reflecting on his life growing up in his biography, Alan previously revealed that he didn’t really remember his siblings ever living at home with him, as they were all so much older than he was.
Sadly, in 2020, Alan lost both his sister Shirley and brother Derek to Covid-19 within just two weeks of each other.
The 73-year-old businessman paid tribute to his oldest sister, Shirley Regal, on social media, saying she had died, at the age of 88.
“She had been sick for a while but I guess Covid got her in the end to join our brother Derek, who passed two weeks ago. RIP SHIRL,” he wrote on Twitter. He added on Instagram: “I guess another victim of Covid.”
The tribute came just two weeks after the star had been forced to say goodbye to his brother with another heartfelt post which read: “Today I lost my long-suffering brother Derek, another victim of Covid which added to his underlying health issues.
“He was a lifetime, passionate Spurs supporter. I never forget my sister-in-law joking with me, thanking me for buying him the club.”
Family life
In 1968, Lord Sugar tied the knot with his wife Ann Simons, a former hairdresser.The ceremony took place on Great Portland Street on April 28th, and in 2023, the couple will mark their Emerald wedding anniversary, after enjoying a happy marriage for 55 years.
Together, the couple have three children, two sons, Daniel and Simon and a daughter named Louise.
While very little is known about their lives, son Simon is currently listed as the CEO of Amscreen, and son Daniel previously used to work for his dad’s flagship company Amstrad.
Additionally, thanks to his three children, Lord Sugar is also a proud grandfather to 7 grandchildren in total
EastEnders connection
Thanks to Lord Sugar’s marriage to hairdresser Ann Simons, Alan is now also the proud aunt of ex- EastEnders actress Rita Simons, who famously portrayed Roxy Mitchell in Britain's favourite soap for a whole decade between 2007 and 2017.
Her character was sadly killed off alongside her on-screen sister Ronnie, Samantha Womack, bringing to an end her decade long stint at one of Walford’s most memorable residents.
Just like her uncle, Rita also married a hairdresser, Theo Silveston, with the couple enjoying a 14 year long romance that even resulted in twins.
However the pair went their separate ways in 2018 and later filed for divorce.
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