Omid Djalili was fired by an unimpressed Lord Sugar in the Celebrity Apprentice For Comic Relief special, as the team of female stars won the programme.
Ten celebrities, split into a women’s team and a men’s team, were tasked with putting together a cabaret event in the space of 48 hours, having to book performers, secure donations, gather auction prizes, dress their venues and organise catering.
Both teams encountered issues throughout, but the women’s team were eventually named the victors of the challenge after raising the most amount of money for charity.
Loving this. SING IT! @robbiewilliams @bbcapprentice #CelebrityApprentice pic.twitter.com/6pdmwDB8XT
— BBC One (@BBCOne) March 7, 2019
The team, led by interior designer Kelly Hoppen, impressed with their jungle themed-event held at London’s Cafe de Paris, which included a performance from Robbie Williams – secured by his wife, team-member Ayda Williams – and Stavros Flatley to entertain guests.
They had struggled slightly throughout the challenge, with EastEnders star Tameka Empson’s sub-team battling to encourage high donations, although they did manage to get celebrity friends including Simon Cowell and Take That to dig deep.
The women’s team, also comprised of Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden and Boris Johnson’s sister Rachel Johnson, were left with less time for a charity auction, but their party was a big success.
They were revealed to have spent £633 and had raised £254,960 with donations and pledges.
Williams said: “It feels so good to win, it’s incredible – it makes all the blood, sweat and tears worth it.”
The men’s team, project managed by TV presenter Rylan Clark-Neal and consisting of comedians Djalili and Russell Kane, football manager Sam Allardyce and broadcaster Richard Arnold, had raised a total of £127,432 with a spend of £641.
They had panicked about their line-up for their sci-fi themed event at London’s Bloomsbury Ballroom, and failed to secure a performance from Djalili’s Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again co-star Cher.
They instead booked musical acts Louisa Johnson, Kodaline and Simon Webbe for the big night, and Djalili also booked The Greatest Show On Legs – a group of nude men who use strategically-placed balloons to protect their modesty.
Clark-Neal looked on in horror during the show, which saw a stripped Djalili join the performers in front of a shocked audience.
When a task balloons out of control. Literally. 🎈🎈🎈🎈 #CelebrityApprentice pic.twitter.com/R0MjmmSHl0
— The Apprentice (@bbcapprentice) March 8, 2019
In the boardroom, Clark-Neal chose to bring Djalili and Allardyce to face Lord Sugar.
Lord Sugar told Clark-Neal: “Rylan, you set out wrong – the girls, in their first session, they had it mapped out. You didn’t have it mapped out and it was four hours before the show had to go on.”
He told Allardyce: “Sam, you were supposed to be their trump card with all those millionaire football players, and I do not accept that you couldn’t get hold of them.”
Making his final decision, Lord Sugar said: “I mean bringing in that balloon act, it was unbelievable – and for that reason, I do believe that you (Djalili) are culpable.
“But Sam, the bad news as far as I’m concerned is that you didn’t pull your weight in this. But the good news is that I’m the first football chairman that’s not going to fire you.”
Lord Sugar then turned to the comedian, telling him: “Omid, you promised a lot, you delivered nothing really – you’re fired!”
