Hot on the heels of his jungle win, Angry Ginge is being hotly tipped to head into Lord Sugar’s Celebrity Apprentice boardroom with his rapper pal Aitch.
Earlier this week, the BBC announced that the world of The Apprentice is getting a little bit bigger with the series’ first-ever full-length celebrity version of the show. Programme makers Fremantle revealed that six 60-minute episodes with a full celebrity cast will air “later in 2026”.
With Aitch, Ginge and Patsy Palmer being eyed by fans to take part in the show, ED! asked bookies for their take, and it seems we could be looking at a jungle reunion…
First-ever full-length Celebrity Apprentice series announced
This week (December 11), it was revealed that the first-ever Celebrity Apprentice has been commissioned by the BBC. It will air after two celebrity specials and mark the first-ever full celebrity series of the BBC boardroom show.
“The six-part series will see a new line-up of famous faces take on weekly business challenges set by Lord Sugar, competing to avoid the words ‘you’re fired’ and ultimately be crowned The Celebrity Apprentice winner,” said the announcement.
Lord Sugar said: “We’ve had some great celebrity names walk into my boardroom over the years, but they’ve only ever had a small taster of what it’s like to be a candidate. It’ll be interesting to see how our future celebrities fare across a full series, removing their PAs, PRs, agents and all the other assistance they have in their day-to-day lives to fully immerse themselves into The Apprentice world.”
Paul Broadbent, Director of Programmes at Naked, part of Fremantle, added: “The celebrities will need to leave their ego at the boardroom door and prepare to roll their sleeves up for some very challenging – and hugely entertaining – tasks.”
When the Celebrity Apprentice will air on BBC One
The Celebrity Apprentice has a pretty vague “later in 2026” launch date. The statement concluded: “The first full-length six-part series of The Celebrity Apprentice will be broadcast later in 2026, with more details announced in due course.
“Meanwhile The Apprentice fans can look forward to two special Christmas themed episodes of The Celebrity Apprentice which will air on 29 and 30 December on BBC One and iPlayer and the latest series of The Apprentice will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in early 2026.”
Line-up speculation – Aitch, Ginge, Patsy Palmer!
Fans of the series have questioned the timing of the announcement. And many suggested that programme makers want to emulate the success of the Celebrity Traitors. “Does Lord Sugar need the money or something? Why now?” asked one.
“They’ll do a celebrity everything now, after Traitors,” said another. “They definitely done this based on the Celebrity Traitors reaction,” said another.
Speculation then turned to the potential line-up, with jungle buddies Aitch and Ginge a firm favourite among fans to head into the BBC boardroom.
“Aitch and Ginge could be fun ones to get on it,” said one. “Bring back Patsy Palmer,” declared a second. Patsy, of course, appeared on a Comic Relief version of the series back in 2009. Then, she had a row with Michelle Mone and flipped a table on Carol Vorderman!
‘A mix of prestige and nostalgia’
Shane Orton from bookies Sports Casting UK told us: “With the BBC going all-in on the first ever full-length UK series of Celebrity Apprentice, these odds offer an early snapshot of the kind of names being linked with the show. Angry Ginge heading the market at 10/11 reflects a clear appetite for digitally native stars who bring built-in audiences and headline-grabbing unpredictability.
“Close behind, Stacey Solomon at 7/4 looks like the ultimate crowd-pleaser. She’s a BBC-trusted favourite who consistently delivers warmth, humour and mass appeal. Meanwhile, Aitch at 2/1 and Joe Marler at 9/4 would give the series its edge. They’d offer the kind of outspoken, unpredictable energy that has recently driven strong viewing figures for celebrity-led reality formats.”
Shane then added: “Elsewhere, the odds point to a mix of prestige and nostalgia. Patsy Palmer at 5/2 taps into pure EastEnders heritage, while David Tennant and Sheridan Smith, both priced at 3/1, would represent significant signings. Securing either would underline the BBC’s ambition to position Celebrity Apprentice as event television as it looks to recapture the success of Celebrity Traitors.”
Read more: I’m A Celebrity cast’s jungle weight losses revealed
The Celebrity Apprentice Christmas Special is on BBC One on December 29 and 30 at 9pm.
So who would you like to see on the line-up? Tell us on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.