The Apprentice hopeful Priyesh Bathia will watch the opening episode of the new season at home in North Harrow tonight (January 29).
The entrepreneur has been a fan of the reality show for years and was urged by mum Parul and dad Kamlesh to apply for it.
He is among 20 contestants competing for Lord Alan Sugar’s £250,000 investment and mentorship - hoping to scale up his mobile cocktail business Boozy Bar into a national brand, and launch ready-to-drink cocktails and mocktails on supermarket shelves.
But Priyesh is already on his way to realising his dream to combine Asian flavours with British classics via his burgeoning pub business Elephant and Barrel.
After leaving his corporate job at PwC, he has opened one pub in Fulham and another in Felixstowe, with plans to convert The Royal Oak in Stockwell into a third.
"It was one of those things," he says of getting on the show.
"I always watched The Apprentice with my parents at a young age for the last 12 years.
"I had this mobile bar business I was doing as a hobby on the side - making cocktails at events - and an idea to scale it into a national brand.
"My parents kept on saying 'why don't you go on it'. So I applied."
The former Pinner Park and Nower Hill High School pupil, who studied economics at university adds: "Being on the show is one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to work with the other candidates and I made friends for life.
"Alan Sugar is what you see is what you get. He doesn't take any B.S and says it how it is.
"He may look grumpy, and to be fair he is grumpy, but he's there to do his thing."
Challenges on the show included flying to Hong Kong and hosting a corporate away day in Egypt.
He says the whole experience was "really good fun" and he has no regrets about his "full u-turn" to ditch corporate life for becoming a landlord.
"I always wanted to be my own boss rather than work for anyone else," he says.
"This project I am doing with my neighbour is bringing the two different cultures of Indian and Britain and infusing them together.
"Elephant and Barrel has the feel of a typical pub but with a twist of India in the decor and the food.
"We know beer and Indian food are a perfect combo, so it might be a burger with an a bhaji inside, or fish and chips with a spicy batter.
"With the cocktails it's a tamarind martini, a mango vodka lassi, or my favourite a spicy margarita which I add fresh green chili and coriander to."
Priyesh will be inviting everyone to his Fulham pub to enjoy an Apprentice watch party - and in the meantime he's working full steam ahead to regenerate his third with a £500,000 investment from Heineken.
Overhauling the pub in Clapham Road will include installing a robotic life-sized elephant that squirts water and delights the younger customers.
"We're hoping to get it up and running by April," he says.
He adds that his whole family are "immensely proud to see me on the show".
"I hope it will be inspirational for people around Harrow for someone who's always lived around here to get on there, and try to make a success of themselves."
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