Amy Anzel spoke with GAY TIMES about all things allyship, The Apprentice and Twitter gays after her departure from the BBC show.
The business mogul was one of 16 candidates vying for investment from Lord Sugar after the hit BBC One show returned for the first time since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic keeping it off air.
After a season of sass, eye rolls and serving lewks, episode six sadly marked the end for Amy on The Apprentice.
“My time was cut short,” she tells GAY TIMES. “I never thought I’d be out week six, but you know, ultimately he’s going to do what he wants to do, and I don’t think he perhaps saw me as his business partner and in my opinion, I felt he had to create a reason to get rid of me because ultimately not being PM [Project Manager] by week six is just lame.”
Despite being subteam leader in four out of six tasks, Lord Sugar was unimpressed by the fact that Amy had not yet taken on the main role after losing this week’s challenge.
“I was following the instructions to a T. He said ‘Don’t put yourself up as PM unless the task is synergistic with your skill set and background.’ [and I] did just that,” Amy explains.
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The Hollywood Browzer entrepreneur explains that she was waiting for a task she could shine in as Project Manager, such as “another product or innovation task or TV shopping”, or for Lord Sugar to do what he did with Nick and appoint her PM in a future challenge.
She continues: “I was just surprised as I’ve watched the show for 10 years and I’ve never seen someone be fired for not being PM by week six.
“And as a matter of fact, I went back and looked in every season, there was someone that was PM for the first time, week seven or even week eight at the latest. It’s never been an issue and I take calculated risks in life and I just thought, that’s not a risk.”
Social media was set alight during episode five when Amy suggested the elaborate story of a father and daughter who “witness a robbery at their local bank wherein all of the employees are murdered” for her team’s video game.
The New York City native tells GAY TIMES that she “laughed” at how much “detail” she went into when watching it back, but sees it as an example of how she put “110% of my energies” into every challenge.
She adds: “I thought, ‘Yeah, it has to be a really good story’ because Akeem – who is a former competitive gamer – he said nowadays, video games are like mini movies. I was like, ‘Oh, OK, so I’ll write like the script of a movie.’”
Went to bed a simple Apprentice candidate, woke up a queen of gay twitter… my time has come! pic.twitter.com/wdavKavfSV
— Amy Anzel (@amyanzel) January 21, 2022
During her run on the show, Amy has gained a reputation for being the self-proclaimed “queen of gay Twitter”.
She frequently tweets about what the support of her LGBTQ+ followers means to her and engages a lot with “Twitter gays” – something she even tweeted has been the “best part” of apearing on The Apprentice.
After confirming to GAY TIMES that it is indeed her running the account, Amy explains that growing up doing musical theatre meant she has always been exposed to a diverse range of people.
She also says: “You know, every Thursday night I have a little viewing party. It’s 95% gay men.
“I mean, it’s funny because I went to Manchester Pride to have a chat with them and they’re like, ‘Tell us why it’s important that you’re an ally of the LGBTQ+ community.’ and I was like, ‘I have to give a reason?’ – it’s just part of my life, part of my DNA. It’s what’s always been, I don’t know any different.”
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Amy recently came under fire from some of her followers when she “unknowingly” tweeted a homosexual slur.
“And you know, there was a recent divide based on that tweet,” she tells GAY TIMES. “But I think it’s all been rectified and I think so many people have just come to my rescue, whether they’re gay friends from the past or new friends.
“But, you know, I issued that apology, and I think it’s interesting so many people said ‘She’s issued the apology. You know, we all make mistakes. Why are you still going at her? You know, who’s in the wrong now? What more do you want from her?’ So I thought that was [a] really fair response by so many people.
“And ultimately on Twitter and on social media, there’s always going to be trolls and haters, and you’re never going to make everyone happy.
“I mean, and if you’re a very vanilla person, you’re boring. So you know, who wants to be vanilla when you could be rocky road?”
Although her time on The Apprentice is over, Amy says she is “walking away with a positive experience and tons of new friends.”
“I just want to thank them for their support,” she says of the LGBTQ+ community. “I mean, they’ve been so lovely.”
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Season 16 of The Apprentice airs every Thursday at 9pm on BBC One and also streams on BBC iPlayer.
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