A television documentary charts the rise of Michelle Mone to celebrity status and her fall from grace following her involvement in a controversial pandemic contract.

Lady Mone initially denied any role in PPE Medpro, a company led by her wealthy husband Doug Barrowman and which supplied £203m of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the health crisis. She later admitted in a TV interview that she lied.

In a new Channel 5 documentary The Michelle Mone Scandal: Where Did Our Money Go?, being shown on Monday night, ex-colleagues, and government officials describe how Mone transformed adversity into opportunity to reach the heights of the business world, creating the Ultimo lingerie brand and a string of other ventures.

But they also reveal her ruthless streak, fall-outs with colleagues and A-listers, such as the singer Rod Stewart, who crossed her as she climbed the greasy pole, at one point becoming a regular on the BBC show The Apprentice and touring the world giving talks to her acolytes who bought her message..

It began to fall apart after Mone, now living with her husband on the Isle of Man, became embroiled in a row over the PPE contract. It is at the centre of a National Crime Agency inquiry.

The couple have had £75m of assets seized, including properties in Glasgow. They deny any wrongdoing.

A spokesman for Mone and Barrowman said: “Faced with mounting public criticism of its COVID-19 response, and with individual ministers finding themselves personally implicated in arrangements with unsuitable suppliers, the previous government, via the Department for Health and Social Care, enlisted the resources and draconian criminal justice powers of the National Crime Agency, to mount a full-on legal attack against Baroness Mone and Mr Barrowman.”

The Michelle Mone Scandal: Where Did Our Money Go? will air on Monday 20 January at 9pm.