Ryan-Mark Parsons

In January 2020, Parsons was slammed for lashing out at a "family friend after they gifted him a pair of pyjamas from budget high street store Primark". In the same month, press pictured Parsons as his gold tooth was "stolen in seagull attack", during a walk through Hyde Park, London. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Parsons shared a video of him crying over not being able to purchase camembert due to supermarket shortages as a result of stockpiling. In the video he said "I know it sounds pathetic and ridiculous in the whole situation, but ever since a child I find that camembert has always comforted me".

In May 2020, Parsons and co-star Lottie Lion took to Instagram live stream, during which Lion impersonated a Venezuelan accent and was accused of racism. Parsons issued an apology for causing any offence for his laughter, but didn't uphold the incident was 'racist'.

On 23 January 2020, Parsons featured as a celebrity panelist on Good Morning Britain to debate whether "Australia should 'sell koala fur' to fund bushfire aid". Parsons made the argument that the 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 strong public and media backlash from UK, Australian and New Zealand press, slamming Parsons for his "vile" and "disgusting" views.

Parsons revealed in April 2020, he is fundraising to fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and will skydive for charity, explaining in the interview "all of the money raised now is going straight to the NHS, and we'll do the skydive after lockdown".

During Week Six, Parsons and a fellow candidate tested one of the rollercoasters at Thorpe Park; where Parsons was described to be "screaming throughout the entire ride". This sparked a significant online reaction, receiving 13,000 Twitter mentions and 10,000 hashtags used; making it one of the most talked about TV moments from 2019, revealed by Freeview.

Parsons also appeared as a guest and co-presented the first part of the BBC Two spin-off show The Apprentice: You're Fired! with comedian Tom Allen in Episode Eight. He was also invited to participate in the filming of BBC Two’s ‘You’re Hired!’, which is the spin-off show for The Final.

Parsons was born in London, United Kingdom. He was educated at Babington House School and chose not to go to university. In 2015, he came first in a Bromley regional public speaking competition and was later selected to compete at the national final for the Jack Petchey 'Speak Out' at Piccadilly Theatre, taking third place overall.

Parsons joined The Apprentice aged 19, known to be the youngest-ever candidate since the show began in 2005. He described himself as having the ability to "forge a connection with anyone". Parsons' performance was praised by Sean O'Grady, Associate Editor of The Independent, who said the “cherubic Ryan-Mark Parsons is the real winner of this series. He describes himself as “a 60-year old in a teenager’s body”, and according to his BBC biography, his role model is The Queen. With his extravagant style, I can quite imagine him graciously opening a stately home".