UK influencer met senior officials on state-sponsored tours of Iran, factchecking body finds

A UK television personality went on two state-sponsored tours of Iran this spring where she met senior officials and was “active” in spreading the regime’s message, according to an investigation by a Iranian factchecking organisation. Bushra Shaikh, from Surrey, owned a luxury clothing brand and finished ninth on series 13 of The Apprentice in 2017, where she described herself as “inspired by Coco Chanel”. Shaikh posts on X and Instagram to hundreds of thousands of followers about her appearances on TalkTV and Good Morning Britain withphotographs of her outfits and opinions on rightwing figures such as Laura Loomer and Rupert Lowe. An investigation by Factnameh found that Shaikh played a “highly active role in reproducing the government’s narrative” this spring after taking part in two press tours organised by IRIB World Service, the international arm of Iran’s state broadcaster. Factnameh identified more than a dozen participants in these tours , including a handful of US journalists. Fereidoon Bashar, the executive director of ASL19, which created Factnameh, said cultivating friendly journalists and public figures had been part of Iran’s strategy for some time. “There has been a long tradition of having prominent western figures to Iran who are aligned with anti-imperialist, anti-colonial frameworks,” he said. But since the 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel in June 2025, he said, there had been a “major shift in Iran’s communication approach”. …