Rochelle Raye Anthony, the 39-year-old entrepreneur who finished runner-up on The Apprentice in 2023, has been hospitalised after suffering a suspected stroke. She shared the news on Instagram, posting a photo of her hand with a cannula attached from a hospital bed.
Rochelle's Health Update
In her Instagram post, Rochelle wrote: 'Dolls, I am in A&E with a suspected stroke. I am so sorry for any clients I need to reschedule! Please bear with me.' She added: 'Stress and trauma really are crazy triggers for serious conditions. I have no use of my left arm and left leg.' She concluded by saying she would be off her phone for the foreseeable future and directed anyone needing her to contact her business.
Rochelle, who calls herself the 'Kim Kardashian of the business world,' rose to fame after appearing on The Apprentice series 17 in 2023. She impressed Lord Sugar with her plans for a hairdressing business but lost to Marnie Swindels, who proposed an inclusive boxing club.
Previous Health Issues
This is not the first time Rochelle has faced serious health problems. In 2024, she revealed that she endured a fortnight of severe pain before visiting doctors, who discovered two large gallstones lodged in her bile duct. The stones were too large to pass naturally, requiring specialist treatment to remove them.
Symptoms of a Stroke
The NHS outlines that stroke symptoms can be remembered using the acronym FAST: Face, Arms, Speech, and Time. A person may not be able to smile, their face may droop to one side, or they may have difficulty lifting both arms. Speech may be slurred or unclear, and they may be unable to talk or understand others. The public is urged to call 999 if any of these symptoms appear. The Stroke Association also offers a helpline at 0303 3033 100 or via email at helpline@stroke.org.uk.
Business Success After The Apprentice
Despite her loss on the show, Rochelle has grown her Milton Keynes salon, The Dolls House, into a successful business. She previously told Metro that she would have done things differently on the show, saying: 'I would have had more models with different types of hair textures. That was something that was really important to me, and I had to choose between going onto the metaverse team or actually being in the advert. Because obviously with limited resources I wasn’t able to get external models in, I didn’t even have time to make my hair how it naturally is. So that was the one thing that I would have changed if I could have.'
