A host of famous faces are stepping into the boardroom as The Apprentice returns with two celebrity Christmas specials in aid of BBC Children in Need.

The celebrities taking part are TV presenter AJ Odudu, Broadcaster and Podcaster Angela Scanlon, Radio 1 DJ Charlie Hedges, comedian Eddie Kadi, actor Jake Wood, singer and TV presenter JB Gill, paralympic athlete Kadeena Cox, Gladiators’ Legend Matt Morsia, barrister and TV presenter Rob Rinder, actor Sarah Hadland, comedian Shazia Mirza and businessman and TV personality Tom Skinner.

Tasked with putting the celebrities through their paces for Children in Need, Lord Sugar calls upon Santa Claus for help, who has just the thing! In this two-part Christmas special, the celebrity candidates are split into two groups and sent to Lapland, the official home of Santa, to develop their own gingerbread biscuits.

Not only will the celebrities have to create their own biscuit, but they will have to develop marketing for their product by creating an advert and a jingle - keep an eye out for a surprise sprinkle of stardust to help the celebrities on their merry way. Both teams will then have to face the dreaded task of pitching to retailers, to help secure those all-important sales – will they secure enough dough or crumble under the pressure?

Watch The Celebrity Apprentice Christmas Specials on iPlayer and BBC One on 29 and 30 December at 9pm

Are you a fan of The Apprentice?

I am an Apprentice fan. I know Tim quite well. It's funny to think he was in the first episode because it's been so long, like 20 years. But you know, he really became an instant role model for a lot of us as well. But then genuinely I love The Apprentice for the banter, number one. But also just the challenge of it, the idea of running around town trying to get stuff done.

What did you think of the other celebs on your team?

I have friends for life. I had met Jake Wood briefly on a podcast that we did, but we've never really chilled. And just chilling with him was a joy from the very beginning. I love the idea that everyone's got this image of him, because he's done so well in EastEnders everyone's got this image of him being Max Branning in real life and he is the total opposite. And just the stories and the advice he gave me, you know, he’s slightly older, the advice he gave me was wonderful. AJ is my sister I've known for so long. But then to see her put on a business hat, she turned into one of my old secondary school head teachers! Then Rob is a joy. He's exactly the same person as Judge Rinder, like in real life. And then you've got Kadeena, our MasterChef winner, which we thought was perfect for our group. But she made the mistake of getting me involved in the kitchen! And then Charlie Hedges, once again, like my sister, it was like we connected. You knew everyone's emotions. You knew everyone's weakness.

Lord Sugar has great one liners, is he the ultimate heckler?

He's incredible! Lord Sugar means business. He knows everybody. He studied everybody and he knows who he wants to keep, who he doesn't want to keep. But at the same time, he's not letting you finish if you’re chatting nonsense. His banter with Tom was ridiculous, same with Matt. He doesn't hold back. He's got one liners and he will drop it out of the blue, you have to laugh, you can't help it because it comes out of nowhere.

How would you sum up the whole experience?

It was one of the best moments of my career and it's certainly a real moment in my life as well because to do something that I genuinely wanted to do and I felt, you know, I would want someone to do it for me or my family, right? But we were doing it out the goodness of our heart. I certainly didn't expect the hospitality, the way we were looked after, the fun that we had. Karren, Mike and Lord Sugar were so kind. For me it's something I will hold dear because I made some really, really good friends out of it as well. Which is what is it is all about.

Why did you want to do Celebrity Apprentice?

Before Strictly, I was always the type who wouldn’t enjoy doing these kinds of programmes, but I loved watching them. Strictly being the biggest for me as I was such a big fan. Doing it made me feel that if something feels right, which this did, then I should go for it. I’m also a big supporter of Children in Need. That’s a huge factor. If you feel you can help, especially after the profile boost from Strictly, you think, I’d love to get behind this. It’s also a bit of fun. The Apprentice is another iconic show, so I thought I had to do it.

This is for Children in Need, what does it mean to you and how important is it to support?

It’s an incredible charity. Speaking as a parent, this is what I could genuinely get behind in the pitch for our biscuit. In the pitch I could say when you take your child shopping, they inevitably want a snack. Treat is a good word to use because that’s what a gingerbread biscuit is clearly, it’s not an everyday thing.

Were you nervous going into this process?

Yes! At one point Tom said, “We’re all businesspeople here,” and I thought, ‘I’m not! Please don’t ask me what business I have’. Nothing, the business of show, Lord Sugar! It’s definitely not my comfort zone, my instinct is to make things funny. I did barrel in on the first day and said, ‘Hello!’. All three of them looked at me like I was mad. Quite quickly you realise you have got to have serious answers.

How would you sum up the experience?

It has been absolutely amazing. I feel like if you want to get people to give up their money that you’ve done something decent to get it and I can honestly say our team worked so hard, we properly got on, had a laugh and it’s an amazing cause.

Why did you say yes to this?

Because it was for Children in Need, so it was charity and I wanted to do that. And also I've watched the show for a very, very, very long time and I've always found it very funny. So I thought, I think this could be a really funny thing to do.

Did you think you could cope with whatever Lord Sugar threw at you?

I think he's very funny, his one-liners and stuff. But also, I've been in comedy clubs where people haven't laughed. I've been on stage at Glastonbury where I've died on my arse in front of 5,000 people. I've had people throw things at me. I've had to escape through toilet windows in Sweden because people were offended and I couldn’t face them. I've performed in caves, tents, and bars with two people and a dog. Comedy's really hard and I thought, I've grafted, I've been in the trenches. This is going to be a walk in the park.

How was pitching your product to the supermarkets and retailers?

We knew we had a great product with original flavours like bubblegum, white pepper, lemon oil, and nutmeg. It fitted the brief, and everyone who tasted it said it was great. We weren’t worried, we knew it was good and we believed in it, so it was easy to sell.

Did the show woman in you come out when selling?

Yes, and they loved our pitch. It was funny and they warmed to us because we’d already got them laughing. We laughed all the way to the bank. They made offers during the pitching process. Asda offered a big deal if we’d come to Leeds, meet their staff, and do some social media for them. We agreed to all that! I’m going to spend the next few months working in the petrol station at ASDA! That was the deal and we had to do it.

What was it like in the boardroom being judged by Lord Sugar?

We had our great product to fall back on, it had been tried and tested, so we knew people loved it. We had a great jingle. We knew the advert could be divisive and we might get some criticism for that but we were prepared for it. We all agreed to stick together no matter what. We were stronger together, the other team were bickering and fell apart. Whereas we defended everything we did. When he brought up criticism about the flavours we made a joke of that, we defended our video and the packaging. If you don’t believe in your product, no one else will! I think Lord Sugar saw that.

Main picture (L-R) Eddie Kadi, Tom Skinner, Sarah Hadland, Shazia Mirza, Charlie Hedges, Matt Morsia, Lord Alan Sugar, Rob Rinder, Angela Scanlon, Kadeena Cox, AJ Odudu, Jake Wood, JB Gill. Images: BBC/Naked/Matt Crossick/Ray Burmiston