Ryan-Mark Parsons (born 4 April 2000) is a British media personality, columnist, and commentator. Parsons is best known for being the youngest-ever candidate on the BBC One reality series The Apprentice (2019) and starring in E4's Celebs Go Dating.
Parsons has also featured in viral and controversial debates on Good Morning Britain. Following several appearances on television and radio, in September 2020 he was named a columnist for the Daily Star, a British tabloid. Parsons starred in Celebrity Eating with My Ex (2021) and Celebrity Hot Property (2022), both on BBC Three.
Early life
Parsons was born on 4 April 2000 in London, United Kingdom. He was educated at Babington House School, a private 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; alongside internships at the Palace of Westminster, Matrix Chambers, 5 King's Bench Walk, AIG and NHS.
Career
2019–2020: The Apprentice and newspaper column
Parsons joined The Apprentice, aged 19, as the youngest-ever candidate since the show began in 2005. 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". 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".
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.
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.
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.
Parsons was fired 'with regret' in Week Eight of The Apprentice and the episode overall gained 6.6 million viewers. In his exit interviews, Parsons caused controversy after calling fellow candidates "desperate".
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 number of online newspapers and became viral. US-based celebrity podcast, Who? Weekly, addressed the story in the episode: 'British reality star Ryan-Mark Parsons (he likes McDonald's)'.
On 23 January 2020, Parsons featured as a panellist in a Good Morning Britain debate over whether Australia should 'sell koala fur' to fund bushfire aid. Parsons made the argument that dead koala fur could be sold "to raise money for the injured animals in the rescue centres". This was criticised by animal rights activist, Wendy Turner Webster, who called his idea "grotesque", alongside presenter Susanna Reid labelling the suggestion as "sick". He was met with public and media backlash from UK, Australian and New Zealand press, denouncing Parsons for his views.
At the start of September 2020, it was announced Parsons would join the Daily Star as a weekly columnist. The newspaper described him: "Often controversial, Parsons will bring his no-holds-barred opinions to Daily Star Online, talking about the biggest events in television". 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".
Parsons made several radio appearances in 2019, including Talkradio with Julia Hartley-Brewer, BBC Radio 5 Live: Wake Up to Money, and BBC Asian Network. In 2020, he appeared in several interviews on Hits Radio with Wes Butters and Fubar Radio with Bobby Norris.
2021–2022: Media appearances, Celebs Go Dating and presenting
Parsons appeared on the celebrity series of BBC Three's Eating with My Ex, which aired on 14 February 2021.
From March 2021, it emerged Parsons joined RT as a regular contributor, first featuring in a report on Oprah with Meghan and Harry. He has since presented a series of reports for the Russian-funded network, including covering Prince Harry's remarks on First Amendment to the United States Constitution.