HER childhood was blighted by money struggles and the tragic death of her elder sister when she was just 17.
But Michelle Dewberry has battled against her upbringing to become a successful businesswoman.
Now, The Apprentice star has opened up on her extraordinary rags-to-riches life – which she says her working-class roots are largely to thank for.
"I'm a tough cookie because I always had to be," said the 33-year-old entrepreneur, who grew up on a west Hull council estate.
"I'm very proud of my roots and I will always be working class – it's an attitude.
"Yes, I earn more money now, but I won't forget where I'm from."
The successful reality star, who shot to fame after winning the second series of the BBC show, grew up in Hull's Boothferry Road.
She shared a three-bedroomed terraced house with her five brothers and sisters and suffered a difficult childhood.
"Money was an issue," said the self-made businesswoman in an interview with Cosmopolitan.
"We were only allowed one light on in the house at a time and we didn't even have a fridge."
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Michelle spent her teenage years in turmoil.
"From a young age I just wanted to go out and work – I hated school and rarely went.
"I had various jobs, starting with a paper round at 13, and I lied about my age to get a shop job a few years later.
"I got in with a bad crowd and, by the age of 16, I was spending all of my time on a huge council estate in Hull with a boyfriend who was in and out of prison."
Even at this time, the steely businesswoman had the dogged determination that she is known for today.
But getting a proper job proved difficult for Michelle – who left school with just two GCSEs and, by her own admission, would swear "every other word".
She said the "turning point" in her life was when her 19-year-old sister Fiona died after falling from the eighth floor of a tower block in Hull.
"I was devastated," said Michelle.
"I felt that she'd been robbed of having a life, so I decided I was going to make mine extraordinary.
"I wanted a life that was good enough for her and me."
Michelle's secured an apprenticeship with St John Ambulance in Hull.
"Staff there were the first people to spot potential in me," she said. "They showed me how to be in the world of work. Then, when they had a new IT system fitted, I took to it like a duck to water and began to train the others up."
From there, she gained a high-flying job in the City at just 23.
The star said: "People thought I was a numpty because I was Northern, but I was used to it.
"I just used to laugh and think: 'More fool you, you're underestimating me and you're going to get bitten by it because you can't see me coming'."
And the petite blonde was right.
She stormed the business world – earning an impressive £160,000 salary as a self-employed global telecoms director, before battling her way through the notoriously tough job interview that was The Apprentice.
She impressed Sir Alan Sugar with her killer business instinct and steely glare across the boardroom table – but Michelle said she still struggled to have everyone convinced.
Michelle, who now reviews current affairs on Sky News Sunrise alongside Eamonn Holmes, said: "I get an incredible amount of abuse, particularly on social media.
"People will say things like: 'What does she know?', 'She's not educated' and 'She sounds really thick'.
"At first, it really dented my confidence and I started to wonder if they were right. But then I realised a lot of it was probably jealousy."
Michelle, who also runs an internet fashion business, said she thinks intelligence is more to do with the type of person you are, than your background.
She said: "There are things I'd change from my childhood – but on the whole I like how I was brought up.
"I regret not grasping an education with both hands when I had the chance, but I don't think I'd send my children to private school.
"If you're a certain type of person I think you can achieve anything.
"You can be whatever you want to be."
And the star, whose 2007 autobiography is titled "Anything is Possible", is a perfect example of that.
Read the full interview with Michelle in the May issue of Cosmopolitan, on sale now.
