Celebrity Apprentice Christmas special candidates revealed

Tom Skinner, Jake Wood, AJ Odudu, Rob Rinder and Sarah Hadland are among the stars who will take part in a Celebrity Apprentice Christmas special double-header later this year.

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Tom Skinner will return to The Apprentice for a star-studded Christmas special
Tom Skinner will return to The Apprentice for a star-studded Christmas special

Tom Skinner will return to The Apprentice for a star-studded Christmas special, alongside the likes of AJ Odudu and Jake Wood.

The 34-year-old businessman shot to fame on the BBC show in 2019 and he went on to appear in this year's Strictly Come Dancing.

Tom will be back in the boardroom to see Lord Sugar this Christmas, after he was confirmed as one of the 12 candidates in the upcoming two Celebrity Apprentice festive specials in aid of BBC Children in Need.

As well as Tom, EastEnders star Jake and Big Brother host AJ, TV stars Rob Rinder, Angela Scanlon, Sarah Hadland, and Matt Morsia, who is best known as Gladiators' Legend, will also take part.

Comedians Eddie Kadi and Shazia Mirza have also filmed the two-parter, as have JLS singer JB Gill, Paralympian Kadeena Cox, and Radio 1 DJ Charlie Hedges.

In the Celebrity Apprentice double-header, the 12 candidates will be sent to Lapland, where they are tasked with developing their own gingerbread biscuits.

Team one, featuring AJ, Charlie, Eddie, Jake, Kadeena and Rob, created the biscuit Jolly McTrouble, a gingerbread biscuit with butter toffee, vanilla and Christmas pudding flavoured festive icing, complete with the tagline "Be Naughty, Get Nice".

Team two, featuring Angela, JB, Matt, Sarah, Shazia and Tom created Gary the Penguin.

The biscuit combines gingerbread with a blend of lemon, bubble-gum and white pepper, complete with the tagline "A Cheeky Treat for Your Little Rebel".

The stars will have to pitch their Christmas gingerbread biscuits to the biggest UK retailers, who will then, for the first time in the show’s history, sell the biscuits in stores across the UK.

A percentage of the biscuit profits will go to BBC Children in Need, and the gingerbread creations will hit supermarket shelves in time for Christmas.

Lord Sugar said: "It’s the first ever time on The Celebrity Apprentice that the public can buy products that were created by the celebrity candidates. It’s added some real pressure to the process.

"I think the celebs thought they were in for an easy ride, but they were wrong! Raising money for BBC Children in Need is serious business, so the candidates really need to deliver if they want to avoid ending up on my naughty list."

Businessman Mike Soutar will fill in as one of Lord Sugar’s trusted advisors, alongside Baroness Karren Brady, because Tim Campbell was unable to attend the filming dates.

The Celebrity Apprentice: Christmas Specials will air later this year on BBC One and iPlayer, and the biscuits will be available to purchase nationwide from Friday 14 November.