And it wasn’t just the biscuits the celebrities were fighting over…

THEY might be raising money for Children In Need – but that doesn’t mean The Celebrity Apprentice Christmas special will make for warm and fuzzy viewing.

The candidates took the whole experience so damned seriously that they turned on each other in the boardroom as they battled to avoid being fired by Lord Sugar, I can reveal.

A cast of 16 people in front of a snowy, Christmas-themed London cityscape.

The Celebrity Apprentice candidates took the whole experience so seriously that they turned on each other in the boardroom, I can revealCredit: BBC
Viewers of the two-part special on BBC One tonight and tomorrow will see the gang split into two teams and sent to Lapland to create their own festive biscuits.

Those joining the fray include EastEnders’ Jake Wood, Big Brother host AJ Odudu, Gladiators’ Matt Morsia and The One Show’s Angela Scanlon.

The winning team will be who lands the biggest biscuit order.

But comic Eddie Kadi admits the pressure of the show turned him into a villain.

He said: “Like a dagger through the heart, we turned on each other and it was everyone for themselves.

“I made it clear I was going to throw everyone under the bus. That’s what I did.

“A villain was created, I was so out of control. The banter was insane. Matt was fighting his way through Lord Sugar, he barely survived what was going down.”

A star of BBC One’s Gladiators arena, as alter ego Legend, Matt is of course no stranger to conflict.

So no surprise the mouthy hunk braved taking on the big boss.

Matt said: “A lot of people won’t have the balls to speak back to Lord Sugar, but not many are Gladiators.

“I have a desire to show people how good I am. If someone questions what I’ve done, it’s my right to put them right and make sure they know they’re wrong.

“I’ve performed to arenas of 4,000 people, built an audience of over five million and amassed over a billion views. So ten people in a boardroom is not an issue for me.”

But for Miranda star Sarah Hadland, who is more used to laughing on set, the dog-eat-dog on The Celebrity Apprentice was harder to deal with.

She said: “To start with, you’re cocky, you think it went well and, ‘We all got on great, nothing to worry about’. Then Lord Sugar started praising the other team, our stomachs sank, we were like ‘Oh no, am I going to get fired on national TV? I don’t think this is very funny any more!’ Then he really went for us!”

All in a good cause, eh?

Rylan is a tough cookie

Rylan Clark attending the True Detective: Night Country screening.
Rylan Clark found himself in a tug-of-love during the two-part specialCredit: Getty
IT wasn’t just the biscuits the celebrities were fighting over – Rylan Clark found himself in a tug-of-love during the two-part special.

The candidates roped in some of their famous pals to help them pitch their festive products to the supermarkets.

And both teams tried to bag Rylan.

Rob Rinder was hoping their friendship would win the battle, but he was not impressed when he was gazumped by Thomas Skinner, who secured Rylan as his team’s host for their pitching event.

JB Gill revealed: “I mean, we wouldn’t want to upset Rob but we got to Rylan first!

“He was like, ‘please don’t tell Rob’, but obviously Rylan and Tom are family friends, so they’ve got a very, very close relationship.

“So he stuck with our team! Rob was not happy!

“But listen, sometimes in business you’ve got to do what it takes to seal the deal and the bottom line is what counts.

“And we’ve got Rylan!”

Minimum Max for the task

A bald man in a suit with a striped tie stands with arms crossed against a snowy Christmas village background.
Actor Jake Wood left his EastEnders alter ego at homeCredit: BBC
IT’S unlikely anyone would choose to take on Albert Square toughman Max Branning in a bust-up.

But actor Jake Wood left his EastEnders alter ego at home – much to Eddie Kadi’s dismay.

The comic reckons “giving it some Max” could have reined in bickering team leaders Rob Rinder and AJ Odudu.

Rob was voted the leader of his group and picked the Big Brother host as his sub-team leader to create their biscuit, called Jolly McTrouble, but things grew tense.

Eddie laughed: “We needed some sort of coordination in the team and Jake was minding his business in every situation.

“I’m like, ‘Can you give us some Max at this stage?’ He gave us the minimum!

“Rob and AJ had head teacher vibes going on and both wanted things their way, in their own passionate way.

“One was so passionate and then the other was also passionate, but they might be going in two different directions. It was just like, “what is going on there?”

Angela’s a mob boss

A woman with red hair, yellow striped shirt, and patterned tie, stands in a snowy Christmas setting with Santa's sleigh in the sky.
Angela Scanlon brought ‘full mob boss’ vibes to the boardroomCredit: BBC
ANGELA SCANLON brought “full mob boss” vibes to the boardroom as she dressed to impress Lord Sugar.

The presenter drew inspiration from classic Hollywood movies for the two-part BBC special – and teased that fans can expect to see her dress like a real “business bitch”.

Angela said: “My business attire reference is Diane Keaton and her movie Baby Boom. It was the first film I watched that I thought, ‘Oh, it’s not a man in a suit, it’s a woman’ – and it was the first time I realised that a job like that was a possibility for a girl.

“I remember that, off the back of that, people would say, ‘What do you wanna be when you grow up?’ I’d say: ‘A businesswoman in a turquoise convertible, with my hair blowing in the wind.’

“There aren’t many opportunities in my normal working life to dress like a business bitch, so I went for it.

“I was, like, full mob boss in the first boardroom.

“But I look like a potato in Lapland, so it’s quite the contrast.”