The Apprentice winner Mark Wright: 'My family are confused, they thought I went backpacking'

The Australian said London is the perfect place to start a business

Mark Wright and Lord Alan Sugar (PA)

Apprentice winner Mark Wright has said his family though he was backpacking around the world – instead of competing to win a £250,000 investment from Lord Alan Sugar.

The ambitious Australian last night beat rival candidate Bianca Miller to be named the business magnate’s partner after impressing with his digital marketing agency.

And when asked what those back home thought he said: "I think they're confused. They're like, 'First of all, what's The Apprentice? Second of all, what are you doing, we thought you went backpacking and now you're on a TV programme with a tycoon starting a business?'".

The 25-year-old, who beat 19 other would-be entrepreneurs, said the UK was the ideal location to launch a business.

"London particularly is a land of opportunity for young people to start businesses. You can start a business here from your kitchen bench and turn over a million quid - what other place in the world can you do that?," he said.

"In Australia the population's not big enough and the dollar's not strong enough."

Wright also revealed that his rivalry with Daniel Lassman, who went out in the semi-final, had spurred him on to success.

"That's why you see a lot of businesses excel when they get a competitor with a good product who pushes them in competition," he said.

"Daniel comes from a footballing sales background and so do I. You put two of those people in a competition and it becomes a nightmare for anyone else around it. In the tasks we hated each other, but in the house we got on fine."

Miller, who was proposing to launch a range of tights to match to various different skin tones, said of her defeat: "If you lose to someone who isn't very good, it's upsetting, but Mark is very credible. I was happy to go up against him and if I was going to lose, to lose to him was the best I could hope for, really."

Additional reporting by Press Association