Marnie Swindells credits 'The Apprentice' for making her feel more "liberated" about her appearance.
Marnie Swindells at the launch of the TRESemmé Beauty-Full Strength range
The 28-year-old businesswoman - who won this year's show - acknowledged that she and her fellow female candidates faced criticism for their daring outfits in the boardroom, but she insisted it was important they were all able to express their true personalities instead of feeling they had to "adopt a more masculine approach" to be taken seriously.
Speaking during a panel discussion to launch the TRESemmé Beauty-Full Strength range at the Tower of London on Tuesday (18.07.23), Marnie told guests including 'Love Island' star Faye Winter and 'Barbie' actress India Harl: "The press actually gave 'The Apprentice' girls a really hard time for our expression in the boardroom and as it's evolved from women in grey suits, all of us showcasing ourselves a little bit more and being more expressive - we took a toll about that.
"But I do think self-expression is so important in the same way, you protect your rights to express your beliefs and your view, it's important to protect that right to express your identity and your fashion and your make-up and your hair choices.
"So it's so important and I know it's a really easy trap to fall into the idea of having to mute yourself and minimise yourself sometimes adopt a more masculine approach to what you wear If you want to be taking seriously like I did.
"I used to be a barrister and I would go to court every day and I would wear head to toe black clothes shoes, and my hair was slicked all the way back with absolutely no personality. And no reflection of who I am whatsoever.
"It wasn't actually until going on 'The Apprentice' and having that opportunity in the boardroom to showcase different outfits, be more playful that I understood and was liberated from the idea that women have to mute themselves to be taken seriously."
For each task on the show, Marnie was able to adopt a "different character" to show off the image she wanted to portray that week.
She explained: "With each task on 'The Apprentice', it required a different version of me. And it was like having a different character which also meant having a different hairstyle.
"So for the tasks where I was being a bit, warmer friendly, a confident, vivacious I'd go for big curly hair. The times when I wanted to stick it on someone and be taken a bit more seriously and, you know, fearsome, I'd go for like, slick hair braids and feel like a warrior.
"Hair is such a pivotal way of expressing yourself and women are multifaceted and their hairstyles should be too."
To find out more about the TRESemmé Beauty-Full Strength range, visit https://www.tresemme.com/uk/home.html.