Ryan-Mark Parsons

Ryan-Mark Parsons, FRSA (born 4 April 2000) is a British media personality and columnist. He is best known for being the youngest-ever candidate on the BBC One reality series The Apprentice (2019).[1][2] He also featured in a viral and controversial debate on Good Morning Britain (2020).[3] Following several appearances on television and radio, in September 2020 Parsons became a columnist for a British national newspaper.[4] Airing in February 2021, Parsons will appear on Celebrity Eating with My Ex on BBC Three.[5]

Ryan-Mark Parsons

FRSA
Parsons at Television Centre, London in 2020
Born (2000-04-04) 4 April 2000
London, United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
EducationBabington House School
Occupation
  • Media Personality • Columnist
Years active2019—present
EmployerDaily Star (2020—present)
TelevisionThe Apprentice
The Apprentice: You're Fired!
The Apprentice Best Bits
Good Morning Britain
London Live
Celebrity Eating with My Ex (BBC Three)
HonoursFellow of the Royal Society of Arts
Websiteryanmarkparsons.co.uk

Early life

Parsons was born on 4 April 2000 in London, United Kingdom. He was educated at Babington House School, an independent school in Chislehurst, southeast London, and chose not to go to university. Before his media career, Parsons was a Brand Ambassador for Gucci within Harrods and Aspinal of London; alongside multiple internships at the Palace of Westminster, Matrix Chambers, 5 King's Bench Walk, AIG and NHS.[6]

Career

The Apprentice and You're Fired!
Main article: The Apprentice (British series 15)

Parsons joined The Apprentice, aged 19, as the youngest-ever candidate since the show began in 2005.[7] Parsons' performance was praised by Sean O'Grady, Associate Editor of The Independent, stating the "cherubic Ryan-Mark Parsons is the real winner of this series".[8] Similarly in The Telegraph, Anita Singh wrote "Technically, there are a dozen contestants in the show. Really, there are only three: Thomas Skinner and Lottie Lion, and Ryan-Mark".[9]

During Week Six, Parsons tested one of the rollercoasters at Thorpe Park, which caused thousands of viewers to react online. According to Hello!, 13,000 Twitter mentions and 10,000 hashtags were used, which made this scene one of the most talked about TV moments of 2019.[10][11]

Parsons later appeared on The Apprentice: You're Fired! hosted by Tom Allen on BBC Two, alongside guests Dominic Holland, Tomeka Empson and Claudine Collins.[12]

In 2020, Parsons featured in The Apprentice Best Bits, which was a six-part compilation series across fifteen series of the show. It was created to replace the 2020 series which was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.[13]

Aftermath

Parsons was fired 'with regret' in Week Eight of The Apprentice and the episode overall gained 6.6 million viewers.[14] In his exit interviews, Parsons caused controversy after calling fellow candidates a "waste of space" and "desperate".[15][16][17][18] Weeks following the series, Parsons had several altercations with fellow contestant Lottie Lion, such as when she criticised Parsons for "charging fans for photos".[19][20] Around a similar time, Parsons was hospitalised after he dropped "£1000 caviar on his foot".[21]

Various pictures surfaced of Parsons in December 2019, including at McDonald's in one of their London restaurants eating with a knife and fork. The story was subsequently reported by a large number of online newspapers and quickly became viral; popular US-based celebrity podcast Who? Weekly addressed the story in the episode "British reality star Ryan-Mark Parsons (he likes McDonald's)".[22][23]

In May 2020, Parsons and co-star Lion took to Instagram live stream, during which Lion impersonated a Venezuelan accent and was accused of racism. Parsons issued an apology for causing any offence for his laughter, but didn't uphold the incident was 'racist'.[24][25]

Good Morning Britain
Main article: Good Morning Britain
Further information: 2019–20 Australian bushfire season

On 23 January 2020, Parsons featured as a celebrity panelist in an exclusive Good Morning Britain debate over whether "Australia should 'sell koala fur' to fund bushfire aid". Parsons made the argument that the dead koala fur could be sold "to raise money for the injured animals in the rescue centres".[26] This was criticised by animal rights activist, Wendy Turner Webster, who called his idea "grotesque",[3] alongside presenter Susanna Reid labelling the suggestion as "sick".[27] He was met with widespread public and media backlash from UK, Australian and New Zealand press, denouncing Parsons for his views.[28][29]

Daily Star Online
Main article: Daily Star (United Kingdom)

At the start of September 2020, it was announced Parsons would join the Daily Star as a weekly columnist. The newspaper described him as "The Apprentice 2019's stand-out star" and "Often controversial, Parsons will bring his no-holds-barred opinions to Daily Star Online, talking about the biggest events in television".[4] Parsons commented on the appointment, "As millions of people know from watching me on The Apprentice, I don't hold back and I'm super excited to be sharing my no-nonsense views with all of the readers. Sassy. Opinionated. Classic Ryan-Mark".[30]

At the start of December 2020, Parsons condemned Rita Ora for breaking COVID-19 lockdown rules after she hosted an illegal party in west London.[31][32] He called the signer's behaviour "wretched" and "negligent".[33]

Television and radio

Since filming The Apprentice, Parsons featured on London Live in November 2019, speaking about his time on the BBC One show. He also made several radio appearances in 2019, including Talkradio with Julia Hartley-Brewer; BBC Radio 5 Live: Wake Up to Money; BBC Asian Network: Breakfast with Harpz Kaur. In 2020, he appeared in several interviews on Hits Radio with Wes Butters and Fubar Radio with Bobby Norris.[34]

On 14 February 2021, Parsons will appear on the celebrity series of BBC Three's Eating with My Ex.[5]

Views

Since Parsons' appearance on The Apprentice, he has expressed controversial viewpoints in his Daily Star column and on television.

Fur trade

Parsons supports the trade of animal fur. During his appearance on Good Morning Britain, he argued that the fur from koalas killed in the Australian bushfire could be used to "capitalise on and cater to" strong global demand for fur products.[3] Also explaining the fur could be used for "a scarf for example. It could be something someone could wear."[35]

Political correctness

Parsons is anti-PC and has criticised the removal of shows like Come Fly With Me, which was pulled from streaming services Netflix and BBC iPlayer.[36] He claimed there is a rise of a "snowflake movement" and is "excited we have [Spitting Image] on our screens that could offend people and pushes the boundaries beyond the sanitised and soporific 'entertainment' that we see nowadays."[37]

Filmography
Year Title Notes
2019 The Apprentice Candidate; Series 15
2020 The Apprentice Best Bits[38] Candidate
2021 Celebrity Eating with My Ex[5] Contestant; Series 3

Guest appearances

Publications

References
  1. "BBC One – The Apprentice, Series 15 – Ryan-Mark Parsons". BBC.
  2. "The Apprentice 2019 contestants: meet Lord Sugar's remaining candidates". The Telegraph. 9 October 2019. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  3. Shields, Bevan (24 January 2020). "'Grotesque': British entrepreneur shot down over plan to sell koala fur as bushfire fundraiser". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  4. Storey, Katie (4 December 2020). "The Apprentice's Ryan-Mark Parsons shares scathing opinion on Rita Ora's lockdown birthday party". Metro. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  5. "Eating with My Ex". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  6. "The Apprentice 2019: Former Matrix mini-pupil set to become youngest-ever contestant". Legal Cheek. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  7. "The Apprentice Line Up Has Been Released So We've Made Some Predictions Based Mostly On Their Suits". Grazia. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  8. "This year's Apprentice winner is worthy and, most unusually, likeable – review". The Independent. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  9. Singh, Anita (6 November 2019). "The Apprentice, episode 6 review: a bunch of blaggers so hapless you wouldn't even trust them to wash your car". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  10. Shenton, Zoe (7 November 2019). "The Apprentice contestants tested a rollercoaster and it was hilarious". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  11. "The most talked about TV moments of 2019 have been revealed – and they might surprise you". HELLO!. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  12. "Steam Train". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  13. "BBC calls off The Apprentice 2020 series". BBC News. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  14. "Weekly top programmes on four screens (from Sept 2018) | BARB". Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  15. "The Apprentice candidate Ryan-Mark Parsons speaks out after being fired". The Independent. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  16. "The Apprentice's Ryan-Mark Parsons claims other fired candidates are "desperate"". Radio Times. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  17. "Here's who was fired from The Apprentice 2019". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  18. "A tribute to Ryan-Mark: The Apprentice King who was gone too soon". UK. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  19. "Ryan-Mark slams Apprentice co-star Lottie in signed pictures dispute". Evening Standard. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  20. Silverstein, Adam (31 December 2019). "The Apprentice's Lottie Lion and Ryan-Mark feud over charging fans for photos". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  21. "The Apprentice star Ryan-Mark Parsons is hospitalised after dropping £1000 of caviar on his foot". OK! Magazine. 30 November 2019.
  22. Newman, Vicki (4 December 2019). "Apprentice star Ryan-Mark baffles fans as he eats McDonald's with knife and fork". mirror. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  23. "Who? Weekly: The Peloton Wife, Ryan-Mark Parsons & K.T. Tunstall? on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  24. "The Apprentice candidate Lottie Lion apologises for 'racist' Instagram video". The Independent. 3 May 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  25. "Ryan-Mark apologises to Jemelin Artigas over Lottie Lion 'racist' claims". Metro. 3 May 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  26. "The Apprentice's Ryan-Mark Parsons claims koala fur should be sold for charity". Metro. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  27. "Apprentice star branded 'sick' after suggesting koala fur should be sold for charity". Daily Mirror. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  28. "'Disgusting suggestion': Businessman's plan for dead koalas slammed". NZ Herald. 24 January 2020. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  29. "Businessman slammed over 'vile' plan for koalas killed in bushfire crisis". 7NEWS.com.au. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  30. Storey, Katie (4 December 2020). "The Apprentice's Ryan-Mark Parsons shares scathing opinion on Rita Ora's lockdown birthday party". Metro. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  31. "Rita Ora 'sorry' for breaking lockdown rules to attend birthday party". BBC News. 30 November 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  32. Parsons, Ryan-Mark; Wetherill, Jack (4 December 2020). "'Rita Ora's pathetic party apology isn't fooling me' says Apprentice's Ryan-Mark". Dailystar.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  33. "The Apprentice's Ryan-Mark Parsons savagely slams Rita Ora for rule break". Metro. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  34. "Grammy Award nominee MNEK spills the tea on Drag Race UK's second season". FUBAR Radio. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  35. Scullard, Vickie (23 January 2020). "Ryan-Mark Parsons slammed for suggesting to sell fur from dead koalas". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  36. "Little Britain pulled from iPlayer and Netflix". BBC News. 9 June 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  37. Parsons, Ryan-Mark; Wetherill, Jack (2 October 2020). "'Maisie Smith will rescue bland Strictly line-up,' says Apprentice's Ryan-Mark". Dailystar.co.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  38. "The Apprentice, Best Bits". Retrieved 2 October 2020.
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