The Apprentice 2023: West Yorkshire bridal boutique owner Shannon Martin decides to leave BBC show in second episode of series 17

Shannon, the owner of Dotty Bridal in Holmfirth, will not be the series victor who goes into business with Lord Alan Sugar. Her decision to leave was announced during just the second episode of the 17th series of the hit BBC show,

Addressing Lord Sugar on the show, Shannon said: “I’ve made the difficult decision to leave the process. Unfortunately, I just don’t feel that this is the environment for me but I wanted to say a massive thank you for giving me this amazing opportunity.”

She exited in the same show as Irish accountant Kevin D'Arcy, who was ‘fired’ by Lord Sugar, and Shannon has admitted to having had doubts going into the process.

She said: “I think that going into the process, I was already having some doubts of whether I should go in or not. But when you're given such an amazing opportunity, you're not ever going to turn that down, it's an opportunity of a lifetime that I'm forever grateful for."

“But I'm a perfectionist, I need to know what's going on all the time and not being able to know how things were going on at home or what was happening at work was really hard for me. The unknown is definitely not something I'm good at.

"The more I thought about it, the more I thought, 'Am I in here for the right reasons? Do I really want a business partner? Is this what I want? Do I want my life to change?' and it really made me realise I love my life, I love the team and I love everything about my life. I knew that I could potentially win the show, and did I really want to win and have my life completely changed? No, I didn't. I wasn't in there for the right reasons."

Her exit was confirmed before the boardroom results section, during which it was confirmed Shannon’s team had actually been victorious in the bao bun task, which involved creating and manufacturing bao buns to sell. Shannon is also the owner of Off The Peg Bridal, a wedding dress outlet in Huddersfield affiliated with Dotty Bridal. Dotty Bridal was founded in 2015 and is based in Huddersfield Road, Holmfirth.