Television presenter Rylan Clark became an unwitting star of the latest Celebrity Apprentice episode, visibly cringing after being roped into presenting one of the most bizarre product pitches in the show's history. The incident occurred during Tuesday night's broadcast, which saw the celebrity contestants tasked with creating and selling a festive biscuit.
The Cringe-Worthy Pitch
The episode's challenge split the stars into two teams, each developing a Christmas biscuit brand. One team, Jolly McTrouble, created a Santa-shaped treat with butter toffee and Christmas pudding icing. The other, featuring Thomas Skinner, Matt Morsia, and Shazia Mirza, invented 'Gary the Penguin' – a gingerbread penguin with a controversial lemon, bubble-gum, and white pepper flavour blend.
Their promotional video, however, left everyone baffled. It featured Thomas Skinner playing the titular penguin who appeared to be eating himself, prompting a market research participant to ask why. When the team brought in Rylan Clark to help pitch to retail investors, the 37-year-old host was almost lost for words after viewing the nonsensical advert, his face a picture of pained embarrassment.
Lord Sugar's Verdict and Social Media Reaction
Viewers took to social media platform X to share their amusement at Rylan's predicament. One wrote, 'Rylan introducing that video, I might never recover,' while another noted, 'Even Rylan can't put a positive spin on that.' In the boardroom, Lord Alan Sugar did not mince his words, declaring the advert 'diabolical' and stating bluntly, 'Your advert sucks. It doesn't tell me about the product at all.'
In stark contrast, the opposing team, Jolly McTrouble, led by project manager Rob Rinder, secured celebrity endorsements from the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman. Lord Sugar even joked about Piers Morgan's involvement, suggesting he should promote a Jammie Dodger instead.
The Final Tally and Firing
Despite the terrible advert, Gary the Penguin surprisingly won the task on sheer sales volume, securing orders for 452,000 units. Jolly McTrouble trailed with 355,500. However, victory did not spare the winning team from scrutiny. Business advisor Karren Brady told Lord Sugar the team had 'no real plan,' a criticism he echoed.
The boardroom confrontation saw AJ Odudu criticising teammate Jake Wood as being 'as useless as a pen with no ink.' Ultimately, project manager Rob Rinder was held responsible for his team's lack of direction. Lord Sugar acknowledged Rob's impressive sales figures but fired him, stating, 'You admit yourself you gave the team no clear direction... So it is with regret, you're fired.'
