Jessica Cunningham

Jessica Cunningham (born 3 March 1987) is a businesswoman, actress, model and television personality, best known for competing in the 2016 series of The Apprentice, coming fourth. She is also known for her appearance as a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother 19. She is the owner of the online fashion company ProdigalFox and the operations director for a PR and marketing agency.

Jessica Cunningham
Born (1987-03-03) 3 March 1987[1]
Dronfield, Derbyshire, England
Occupation(s)Businesswoman, actress, tv personality, model
Children5

Early life

Jessica Cunningham was born in Dronfield, Derbyshire, England in March 1987. However, she was raised in Burnley, where her parents ran a second-hand store. They sent Cunningham to the private independent Westholme School in Blackburn, although she later switched to a state school, St Wilfrid's Church of England Academy, also in Blackburn.[2][3]

Cunningham has also worked as a stripper and pole dancer in clubs across Northern England, under the name Roxanne Fox.[4] Earning £40 and £300 a night, and sometimes up to £1,000 a day, she has stated her parents are embarrassed but that she has no regrets over her past career.[5]

Career

Business

Cunningham ran a fashion business, Famous Frocks, with her ex-partner and father of her three children, Alistair Eccles, which failed and shut down in 2015 after Eccles' conviction for money laundering.[6] She posed for Loaded as a model when she was 21.[7] She left her role as director at a marketing firm to focus on her fashion business ProdigalFox, and appear as a contestant on The Apprentice.[3]

The Apprentice

Cunningham came to public attention when she participated in the twelfth series of Alan Sugar's The Apprentice. She stated she intended to participate with her "positive, helpful attitude",[8] and described herself as a "dreamer"[9] and a "female Jim Carrey."[10] She was described as one of the "key entertainers" of the series.[11] She was noted for becoming emotional and breaking down in tears on the show, and at one point had to be comforted by Alan Sugar's assistant Karren Brady.[12] On this, she said "Everyone is capable of having a little cry under stressful and frustrating situations, and that is just how some people including myself deal with emotion."[13]

Cunningham was knocked out of the competition in the interview round, in the second last week of the show, after her business plan was deemed unsatisfactory.

Acting

Cunningham made her acting debut in the negatively received[14] horror film Lock In, later renamed Clown Kill, which was released in January 2014 and is due for re-release under its new name in early 2017 due to the recent fame garnered by Cunningham after her appearance on The Apprentice.[15] Filmed on a £148,000 budget, Cunningham plays the main protagonist, Jenny, an advertising executive who is kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a clown. After taking six months off work, she spends the night in an office block and is joined by the same clown who raped her.[16][17]

Celebrity Big Brother 19

Cunningham entered the reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother as a "late entrant" on 14 January 2017. Cunningham became the seventh housemate to be evicted on 27 January 2017, after receiving the fewest public votes against Irish pop duo Jedward, TV cleaner Kim Woodburn, model Bianca Gascoigne and reality TV stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt.

Personal life

Cunningham has three daughters with her former partner, Alistair Eccles, who committed suicide aged 35 in August 2017.[18] She lives in Dronfield, Derbyshire. She has a sister, Emma Deeks, who is the co-founder of her fashion business ProdigalFox. Deeks also has a degree in fashion.[19] Cunningham, on 5 July 2018, gave birth to her fourth child, with her boyfriend Alex Daw, after suffering a miscarriage.[20][21]

References
  1. "Prodigal Fox Ltd". BizDb. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  2. "YOU'RE FIRED! We speak to former Blackburn student Jessica Cunningham after her Apprentice exit..." Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  3. "'I'm in it to win it!' – could Lord Sugar's next business partner be former Blackburn pupil Jessica Cunningham?". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  4. "The Apprentice's Jessica Cunningham Used to Earn 1000 a Day as a Stripper".
  5. "The Apprentice's Jessica Cunningham used to earn £1000 a day as a stripper". Yahoo News. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  6. "Jessica Cunningham 'devastated' after ex-boyfriend found dead". Evening Standard. 14 August 2017.
  7. "The Apprentice's Jessica Cunningham Tells All About THAT loaded shoot". Loaded. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  8. "Doncaster's Pocket Rocket takes on the best and the brashest to be Lord Sugar's Apprentice". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  9. "Meet the 18 brash business men and women hoping to win the UK's 'The Apprentice'". Business Insider UK. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  10. "Who is Jessica Cunningham? The Apprentice 2016 candidate guide". Radio Times. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  11. "The Apprentice beauty Jessica Cunningham on 'amazing' Lord Sugar and why he fired her". International Business Times. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  12. "'The Apprentice's Jessica Cunningham NOT Fired Despite Task Meltdown". HuffPost. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  13. "Is showing emotion a sign of weakness?". Prodigal Fox. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  14. "Lock in Movie Review". Horror Talk. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  15. "Clown Kill Cast". Official film website. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  16. "Apprentice candidate Jessica Cunningham was raped by a CLOWN in horror film". News Ody. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  17. "Ex-stripper Apprentice candidate Jessica Cunningham once starred in a low-budget horror film in which she was raped by a CLOWN". World Breaking News. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  18. "Jessica Cunningham writes heartbreaking letter to her daughters about their dad's death". Manchester Evening News. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  19. "The Apprentice's Jessica Cunningham Has a Love Island Connection and Celebrity Friends".
  20. "Jessica Cunningham pregnant 2018: Pregnancy details, from announcement to due date, revealed as former The Apprentice contestant opens up on expecting again after a miscarriage". 5 July 2018.
  21. "CBB star Jessica Cunningham welcomes baby". Digital Spy. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
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