Apprentice star on mission to expand business and help Milton Keynes become smoke free by 2025

The Riot Rehab Bus stops off at Milton Keynes shopping centre tomorrow – offering ‘passengers’ free haircuts to help smokers who want to kick the habit.

The bus has been converted into a pop-up hair salon with MK Apprentice star Rochelle Anthony climbing board to join the hairdressing team.

Rochelle, who runs her own hairdressing salon in Milton, is currently starring in BBC1’s The Apprentice, vying to become Lord Sugar’s potential business partner, and here she tells the MK Citizen what inspired her to apply as a candidate and why she’s joined the team on the Riot Rehab Bus.

Why did you apply for The Apprentice and how have you found it so far?

It’s been a truly amazing experience, I’m a huge fan of the show, and have watched it for years. I’ve always wanted to be a candidate, and after the hardest time during the pandemic, I knew how much I could learn from the process, and how amazing it would be to represent my home town of Milton Keynes.

Tell us about taking the scissors to tobacco use and why you’re involved

It’s a campaign to help people in Milton Keynes quit smoking, while sat in the hairdresser’s chair. I know that the salon chair is a safe space for my clients, and we discuss so much in their appointments, that some real hard hitting questions can come up. I know more about some of my clients’ lives than their close friends. So when I saw this campaign to help people stop smoking, and getting Milton Keynes smoke free by 2025, I knew I had to get involved.

Why free haircuts?

It’s all about those small moments where you’d least expect to quit smoking. The hairdressing chair is a great way to take away any pressure, it allows the appointment to be completely organic and natural, to discuss people’s habits with smoking and gives them the tools and advice to stop smoking for good. Smokers will be able to get a free trim while Riot Rehab quit smoking experts share advice on how to face up to triggers and cut out tobacco.

What do you see next for your business?

I would love to expand my business worldwide, do more in education and work on a hot tools range perfect for all hair types.

For further information about the quit smoking campaign and to book a free haircut head to the website here.

The Riot Rehab Bus visits centre:mk from 12pm-5pm tomorrow.

> The quit smoking initiative kicks-off a big year of quit-smoking schemes in the Milton Keynes area for Riot Rehab, which is seeking to help make the region Smoke Free by 2025, ahead of the government’s national target of 2030.

Ben Johnson, Founder of Riot Labs that created Riot Rehab as a vehicle to help people quit smoking, explained: “Riot Rehab is on a mission to create a smoke-free world, and we’ve always tackled the issue of helping people quit smoking through disruptive methods compared to other brands and Government-backed health organisations.”