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HE’S had no shortage of partners in business, but when it comes to love, only one has passed the test for Lord Sugar.
The Apprentice star, 76, and his wife Ann, 75, tied the knot almost six decades ago, rising from rags to riches to navigate parenthood, fame… and his ill-fated stint running Tottenham Hotspur.
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Ahead of the 19th series of the hit BBC show, which begins tonight, Lord Sugar‘s assistant Tim Campbell told The Sun romances can occur between contestants, but that doesn’t impress the tycoon.
He added: “The only romance Lord Sugar refers to is with his beautiful wife, Lady Ann – so thankfully that’s the only one we really have to focus on.”
Ann said she knew Lord Sugar was “Mr Right” from the moment she met him in 1966, when he was a travelling salesman and she was working as a hairdresser.
But the course of love didn’t always run smooth for the business mogul, now worth £1.21billion, with her skeptical father even attempting to break the Couple up.
Read more on The Apprentice
The pair first started Dating when one of Lord Sugar’s pals set them up. Just 18 at the time, he was selling tape recorders for a firm called Robuck Electrical.
In his autobiography, What You See Is What You Get, Lord Sugar wrote: “Unbeknown to me, Ann’s friend Sandra arranged for Ann to have a pre-inspection of me at the Whisky A Go Go club in Wardour Street one night.
“We must have mingled but I have no real memory of it. A couple of days later, my friend Steve told me I was going out in a foursome with this girl Ann whom I’d bumped into at the Whisky the week before.
“Though I didn’t know it, I’d been inspected and approved.
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“I had no idea what to expect, but we met up at St Anne’s Club off Shaftesbury Avenue and, as you do as a young man, I kind of gave her the once-over and decided pretty quickly she was really nice.”
After their first Date, the pair – who now live in a sprawling mansion in Chigwell, Essex – started going out regularly around London, although Ann’s dad, Johnnie, had strong reservations.
Lord Sugar revealed his future in father-in-law even pressured his daughter into sending a “Dear John” letter, breaking things off. However, within a week the pair were already back together.
After eventually winning over Ann’s parents, the entrepreneur went on to propose to his girlfriend in an extremely unromantic way.
Ann had been telling me for ages that I was banging my head against a wall trying to do my best for Tottenham, when instead of thanks, all I got was more and more stick
Lord Sugar
He said: “It was along the lines of ‘I suppose we should get married then’.
“We were going over the Stratford flyover in the minivan at the time – can you imagine?
“Now you must really be asking what the hell she saw in me.”
On April 28 1968, Alan and Ann tied the knot at London’s Great Portland Synagogue.
Although Lord Sugar described their wedding as a “memorable and wonderful occasion”, he admitted he “couldn’t wait until it was all over”.
That same year the businessman set up Amstrad – the electronics firm that would make him his millions.
He and Ann had their first child Simon on June 8, 1969, followed by Daniel in 1971, and Louise in 1974.
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Lord Sugar has claimed that his and Ann’s “biggest achievement in life” has been ensuring their children became decent human beings.
However, he was certainly not a stay at home dad, with Ann taking up the lion’s share of the work.
He admitted: “When it comes to being a young father, I have to say that compared to those of today, I was rotten.
“I can honestly tell you that I never changed a nappy. Well, maybe I changed one or two, but I certainly never bathed a baby, although I might have watched a couple of times and taken some pictures.
“In fact, as Ann often reminds me, I never saw the kids when they were growing up, apart from at the weekends.”
Begged husband to sell Spurs
Ann was not involved in her husband’s business, although she was always there to support him when it mattered.
Paying tribute to his wife at his 40th wedding anniversary, Lord Sugar said: “It is true that over the past 25 years or so, due to my various shenanigans, the focus of attention has been on me.
“Quite unfairly so, as behind me is Ann – someone who has always sat in the background and let it all happen.
“But she has been by my side through good and bad times – fortunately not too many bad times.”
Her backing was crucial during Lord Sugar’s disastrous ownership of Tottenham Hotspur.
She was by his side when he defended his decision to sack Terry Venables – a move which enraged Spurs fans and landed him in the High Court when the ousted boss got an injunction against the decision.
He looked me up and down in my (Lords) robes. I’d say it was a look that said, ‘All right, you’ve made your point – you are good enough for my daughter
Lord Sugar on his father-in-law
And she sat beside him as Spurs supporters chanted “Sugar out! Sugar Out!” at the games.
Ann begged her husband to quit the club for years before he finally called it a day.
Lord Sugar said: “Ann had been telling me for ages that I was banging my head against a wall trying to do my best for the club, when instead of thanks, all I got was more and more stick.
“She was right. Perhaps I was stupid to stay as long as I did.”
Lord Sugar, who was chairman of Spurs from 1991 until 2001, finally sold his remaining shares in the club in 2007. He described his time with Spurs as a “waste of my life”.
Splashing the cash
Despite their trials, Ann has always kept Lord Sugar’s spirits up, throwing him lavish parties over the years.
For his 50th birthday, Ann put on a huge bash at London’s Reform Club, inviting then Labour leader Tony Blair and many of her husband’s long-lost friends from his childhood.
The pair have also splashed out on incredible wedding anniversary celebrations.
To mark their 40th year together in 2008, the couple hosted a soirée at their country mansion in Chigwell.
Showing his softer side, Lord Sugar arranged for the cast of Jersey Boys to perform at the event – as he knew Ann loved the musical.
The couple’s 50th anniversary in 2018 was a more low-key Affair as they instead chose to celebrate the occasion with their grandchildren.
The couple’s rags to riches love story came full circle in 2009 when Lord Sugar was made a life peer in the House of Lords, meaning Ann also became a baroness.
She and her father joined Lord Sugar in the chamber as he was sworn in – four decades on from the moment he was rejected by her dad.
With a touch of vindication, he wrote in his autobiography: “As we turned into the grand entrance of the main chamber… Johnnie called out, ‘Good luck, Alan.’
“He kind of looked me up and down in my robes and I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was a look that said, ‘All right, you’ve made your point – you are good enough for my daughter’.”
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