Apprentice candidate Flo Edwards has said she is ‘mortified’ after fellow contestant Noor Bouziane accused her of ‘brushing her skills under the carpet’ in a way that reminded her of racism she experienced as a teenager.
Ms Bouziane, who is Muslim, said her treatment by the recruitment consultant gave her ‘flashbacks’ to when she was a young woman working office jobs and allegedly overlooked for opportunities because of her race.
In a video posted to TikTok on Friday, she claimed Ms Edwards had ‘brushed everything I had to say under the carpet’ during the episode’s task – and, without accusing her rival of discrimination, said: ‘There’s still racism in the workplace.’
A show source told : ‘Flo’s friends say she is devastated at this suggestion. Her whole business is around inclusion in the workplace, and she is mortified that anyone would think this of her, and that Noor has never raised how she felt.’
Recruitment consultant Ms Edwards was in charge of one of the teams on Thursday night’s episode that saw the candidates produce a virtual reality videogame.
Apprentice candidate Noor Bouziane appears to suggest she was discriminated against during a recent episode that saw her attempts to contribute ideas knocked back
Ms Bouziane looked visibly annoyed when her request to join the branding team in episode three’s virtual reality task was rejected by Flo Edwards (left)
The pair continued to clash throughout the episode as the team developed their virtual reality game – with Ms Bouziane’s suggestions turned down
Throughout the task, Ms Bouziane continued making suggestions to make the game more ‘fun’
But she claimed on the show – and in a subsequent TikTok video – that her ideas had been
An early tense exchange saw Ms Bouziane’s attempt to join the branding team shut down despite her experience of launching her own brand.
She then tried to contribute ideas to the game in the design team – only to be told there wasn’t enough time for them to be included.
Baroness Brady, supervising, later told Lord Sugar ‘none of the ideas’ Ms Bouziane had put forward had been considered.
And in a TikTok video, the jewellery business owner said the entire experience had reminded her of previous unpleasant workplace experiences where, at that time, she felt she had been discriminated against because of her race.
She said: ‘My skills were brushed under the carpet…if you think that the person who’s good at branding is not meant to be on the branding team…that makes no sense.
‘At that moment, it gave me so many flashbacks of when I used to work office jobs and used to work corporate jobs – 16-year-old Noor, just because you come from Morocco, just because you’re not born there, people don’t look at you the same and you’re not given the same opportunities.
‘You guys can see it in the episode. That in 2024, stuff like this still happens.
‘In 2024, just because you’re Muslim, just because you’re black, just because you’re Asian, Moroccan, Scouse…there’s still racism in the workplace that happens on the daily.’
Social media reaction to the episode had prompted her to speak out, she added. At no point in the video does she directly accuse her fellow candidate of being racist.
She added: ‘For someone to not take anything I had to say into consideration I was so baffled…for this to be happening in 2024, crazy.
‘I was extremely upset, I went straight to bed (after filming), to then a year later rewatch everything and go on my phone and see on Twitter that this is not right.’
Speaking to , Ms Bouziane said that her experience of working under Ms Edwards on the task had reminded her of previous experiences as a younger woman trying to make it in the business world.
She said: ‘How can someone running a successful business in the right areas be treated like what I’m saying doesn’t matter? I was triggered because it has happened before.
Baroness Brady told Lord Sugar in the boardroom that ‘none of the ideas’ Ms Bouziane had put forward had been taken up
In the boardroom, Ms Bouziane said she found the finished game ‘boring’ – but the team ultimately won the task
After watching the demo of the team’s medieval-themed game, Lord Sugar said the game was ‘not Game of Thrones – more Game of Yawns’
Ms Edwards during the boardroom scenes at the end of the episode. She said of the result: ‘Everyone followed my vision and that’s what makes winners’
‘This is why I started my own business – I’ve worked 9-5 jobs, corporate jobs, and it’s very hard for someone who doesn’t come from the UK to be able to climb up the ladder.
‘Even Baroness Brady said in the boardroom – I felt like I was a joke. I don’t know if it was because I was younger but for someone not to take me seriously, it really triggered me.
‘I can’t comment on what Flo is like because I’m not close to her. But it still exists – people from ethnic backgrounds still having problems climbing the ladder.
‘If you watch the episode you can see what happened – it’s not something I made up. You can’t make up me being ignored.’
The video has been viewed nearly 36,000 times as of 12pm on Saturday, less than a day after it was posted. Viewers were split on whether they agreed with her claims.
One user said: ‘its good that u spoke up my lovely, alan sugar dont deserve you, u live and u learn tho but its a message for any asain (sic) planning on going on this show.’
Another wrote: ‘Flo should be ashamed of herself. You were the first person to voice that you’d like to be on the branding team but she completely dismissed that. Why?’
‘She didn’t even give you the respect to tell you, she brushed over you saying you’re good at branding and spoke to the other team members as if you weren’t there,’ another commenter opined.
But one said: ‘Probably the stupidest post I’ve seen on this app and that’s more impressive than what you’ve done on the apprentice so far.’
And another added: ‘I really think your ideas were bad though.’
The awkward exchanges in Thursday night’s episode began with the 23-year-old, who runs jewellery business Lux Lumiere, making a pitch to join the branding team.
She told Ms Edwards: ‘I’ve got a business myself so I’ve got a lot of knowledge when it comes to branding.’
But she was left visibly seething and uncomfortable when others were chosen instead, and told the team leader: ‘I wanted to be in branding.’
The recruitment consultant, 30, replied: ‘I know but five people wanted to be in branding and unfortunately I can’t have five people in branding.’
Later in the episode, the team is designing its medieval-themed virtual reality game, and Ms Bouziane pipes up that the game doesn’t appear to be ‘fun’ – making a number of suggestions as to how to improve it.
She then said in an interview: ‘I don’t feel like I’m being listened to in that room. I have a lot of ideas that will make the game even funner, because the game right now is absolutely boring.’
Later, in the boardroom, Noor told Lord Sugar she found the game ‘boring’. Baroness Brady said ‘none of the ideas’ she had put forward had been considered.
After seeing a clip of the game, Lord Sugar said it was ‘not Game of Thrones, more Game of Yawns’.
However, he ultimately declared their team the winner – sending them to London’s Tomb Raider Live Experience for an immersive gaming experience of their own.
Ms Edwards said: ‘I think we won because we had such an excellent team. Everyone followed my vision and that’s what makes winners.’
But Ms Bouziane fumed: ‘We all stuck to Flo’s brief. If she would have listened to me we would’ve done even better.’
TikTok viewers were split on whether Noor Bouziane’s ideas had been shut down prematurely – or whether they weren’t good enough for the team’s virtual reality game
Noor Bouziane (left) and Flo Edwards in their promotional shots for the latest series of the Apprentice, now in its 18th edition
A spokesperson for The Apprentice said: ‘The Apprentice can confirm that there were no concerns raised during filming or since. No informal or formal complaints have been raised to us at all.
‘There has been no allegation or concerns raised of discrimination and to report as such is completely untrue.
‘The Apprentice has a zero-tolerance policy on discrimination. The duty of care and welfare of all candidates is of utmost importance and when action is required, we take it.
‘All candidates sign up to strict code of conduct which makes it clear that any form of discrimination is not tolerated and will be fully investigated.’
Wellness brand owner Dr Asif Munaf was fired by Lord Sugar at the end of episode 3 – but was later edited out of spin-off show You’re Fired! following comments he had made about the Israel-Hamas conflict.
has contacted Ms Edwards for comment.