The Apprentice's Lottie Lion says she 'met men on a Sugar Daddy website'

Lottie Lion resorted to meeting men on a sugar daddy dating website to maintain her lifestyle, after claiming her appearance on The Apprentice wreaked havoc with her mental health.

The ‘villain’ of the 2019 series confessed that she joined Seeking Arrangement after splitting from an older man who had treated her to lavish holidays and ‘paid for everything’ as she wanted to maintain her lifestyle.

However, the former business analyst, 21, ultimately left the site and had to contact the police after receiving ‘threats and harassment.’

Online: Lottie Lion reportedly resorted to meeting men on a sugar daddy dating website to maintain her lifestyle, after claiming her appearance on The Apprentice wreaked havoc with her mental health

Lottie – who made headlines for using ‘inappropriate’ racist language towards her Apprentice rival Lubna Farhan – told The Sun on Saturday that the coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on her finances.

As a result, she joined the sugar daddy website in the hopes of funding her luxury lifestyle, and getting a ‘bag or holiday’.

She explained that the idea of joining the website came to her after splitting from a partner in his mid-30s who had discussed using sugar babies in the past.

The TV personality revealed that he’d often whisked her away on trips while covering all the costs, saying their relationship was ‘sort of like’ a sugar daddy/baby dynamic.

Lottie also admitted that even at the age of 18, she has never dated someone under the age of 26, as she left home at an early age and had to grow up fast.

The controversial contestant said she is now drawn to ‘mature men’ who have life experience and success to their name .

Jet-setter: The ‘villain’ of the 2019 series confessed that she joined Seeking Arrangement, and developed a relationship with a sugar daddy who ‘paid for everything’

However her decision to seek out older, established men backfired as she said to the publication: ‘Since The Apprentice I was wary in case someone recognised me, and that is what has happened.

‘I was approached by a man who seemed charming, very chatty and interested in getting to know me.

‘After that, it’s so hard to talk about, suffice to say I won’t be on there any more. I’ve had threats, harassment and had to speak to police.’

Lottie revealed she has struggled to stay afloat during the pandemic after constantly applying for jobs and being forced to rely on income from influencer work and savings.

Shocking: However, the former business analyst revealed she left the site and had to contact the police after receiving ‘threats and harassment’

Lottie believes the downwards spiral of events was influenced by her appearance on the BBC One show, as she claimed producers contacted her to check her welfare, but it was too little to late.

The former librarian admitted her mental health has been suffering since appearing on the business competition, and resulted in her feeling like she couldn’t ‘carry on’ anymore and taking breaks from social media to ‘detox’.

She declared that the hit BBC programme should increase the minimum age of participants to 21, following the backlash she faced.

Lottie also claimed that she was made to take on a persona for her stint on the show, saying she asked to be called Charlotte but producers wanted her to be Lottie.

The TV personality alleged that TV execs preferred the sounds of ‘Lottie Lion the Librarian’ and she was so keen to take part that she went along with the idea.

MailOnline have reached out to BBC for a comment. While an Apprentice spokesperson told The Sun that candidates’ wellbeing ‘is of paramount importance.’

Crisis: Lottie believes the downwards spiral of events was influenced by her appearance on the BBC One show and believes the minimum age for contestants should be raised to 21

Lottie was caught up in reports of behind-the-scenes race rows and homophobia during her time on The Apprentice.

She is said to have referred to another contestant – Lubna Farhan – as ‘Gandhi’, telling her to ‘shut up’, adding ‘I’ll f**k you up’ and threatening her with an ‘upper cut to the jaw’.

Lottie was also accused of making homophobic remarks about gay candidate Riyonn Farsad.

She was consequently banned from The Apprentice sister shows You’re Fired and You’re Hired.

And last May Lottie apologised after she took to Instagram live and referred to Lord Sugar as an ‘actual racist’.

Live on the wine: Lottie apologised after she took to Instagram live and referred to Lord Sugar as an ‘actual racist’ back in May

The former contestant took part in an online chat with fellow ex-candidate Ryan Mark Parsons , where she threw shade at the former Amstrad boss, as well as another of last year’s stars Jemelin Artigas.

Three sheets to the wind on wine, Lottie mocked Venezuelan-born Jemelin’s accent and said: ‘If we’re going to talk about f**king racists, let’s talk about Lord Sugar. He’s an actual racist!’

However, she and Ryan Mark later told MailOnline: ‘We impersonated various candidates from The Apprentice on our Instagram live on Friday. We are aware one candidate has taken offence and can only apologise.

‘Our intention was to lighten the spirits of our fans, through dancing, singing and answering questions about The Apprentice.’

According to a video sent to Jemelin and shared by her to Twitter, Lottie said of Jemelin – who moved to the UK when she was 16-years-old – that she is ‘the most illegitimate person I think I know’.

Beef: The former contestant, who made headlines in 2019 for allegedly making racist remarks herself, threw shade at the former Amstrad boss

Faux pas! Ryan Mark appeared to gasp at this, to which Lottie waved around her wine glass and blamed it on the booze. ‘That’s what happens when I have too much wine!’ she joked

She then appeared to impersonate her Venezuelan accent, saying: ’18 years ago I moved to this country and it’s like I didn’t even speak the language, all I did was clean toilets.’

Bristolian Lottie then added: ‘It’s like, darling, we all started from nothing – I started from nothing.’

Ryan Mark appeared to gasp at this, to which Lottie waved around her wine glass and blamed it on the booze.

‘That’s what happens when I have too much wine!’ she joked.

Her Lord Sugar comments were a reference to his Twitter post in 2018, when he shared a photo of the Senegal football team during the World Cup, and compared them to people who sell goods on the beaches of Marbella.

He was forced to apologise and remove the tweet at the time, which read: ‘I recognise some of these guys from the beach in Marbella. Multi tasking resourceful chaps!’