The Celebrity Apprentice Returning to the BBC for Christmas Specials

The Celebrity Apprentice is returning to BBC One and iPlayer for two hour-long specials in support of BBC Children in Need, with Lord Sugar hosting and Karren Brady and Mike Soutar featuring as advisors.

The new specials, produced by Fremantle’s Naked, will send 12 celebrity candidates to Lapland to create a festive biscuit, which they will pitch to the biggest U.K. retailers. For the first time in the show’s history, the retailers will sell the biscuits in stores across the U.K. to support Children in Need.

As part of the episodes, the celebrity candidates will visit the BBC Children in Need-funded project Chickenshed Theatre Trust to share their adverts and offer the children a taste of their biscuits.

“We are delighted to announce The Celebrity Apprentice: Christmas Specials,” said Paul Broadbent, director of programs at Naked. “Not only will the two special episodes be immensely entertaining, but the biscuits made and sold in the lead-up to the show airing will be raising vital funds for BBC Children in Need; it’s a win-win. The Apprentice has always been the ultimate test of business acumen and resilience. Now, with well-known faces stepping up to the challenge, we can’t wait to see how they fare under pressure.”

Kalpna Patel-Knight, head of entertainment commissioning at the BBC, commented, “Viewers can look forward to the celebrity candidates facing the ultimate festive challenge of creating their own biscuits in aid of BBC Children in Need with plenty of seasonal surprises along the way before they face Lord Sugar in the boardroom, who will decide who has been naughty and who has been nice!”

“This is the first time we have partnered with The Celebrity Apprentice,” noted Tommy Nagra, director of content at BBC Children in Need. “The spirit of Christmas embodies kindness, generosity and giving, so it’s especially exciting that—for the first time ever—the product created during the show will be available in stores, with proceeds going directly to BBC Children in Need. Right now, we’re only able to fund one in six organizations that ask us for support, so every pound raised will help us reach children across the U.K. who are most in need during these most challenging of times for young people.”