Kay Burley reportedly clashed with Celebrity Apprentice co-star Max Balegde to the point of driving the latter to tears.
During filming for the upcoming season of the BBC reality series, where famous faces must prove their business savvy to Lord Alan Sugar, the pair were reportedly sent on a mission to France to collect specific items for a task, with right-hand man Tim Campbell observing.
But, according to sources close to the production, the duo had a bust-up and, as tensions rose, influencer Balegde, 27, felt ‘picked on and demeaned’ by the Sky broadcaster, 65.
The insider claimed to The Sun that by the end of the day, he was ‘in tears’ and that both Tim and the welfare team had to intervene.
Another insider offered a different perspective on the situation.
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‘Kay initially tried to help Max on the task as he couldn’t speak French and found the whole filming process rather overwhelming.
‘The show is a competition after all and Kay went into it to do the best she could for her chosen charity.
‘As far as she’s concerned it was all part of the game and there are certainly no hard feelings.’
The clash is said to have been brought up by Lord Sugar himself during the boardroom debrief, which started another row.
Burley reportedly told Lord Sugar: ‘I’m disappointed. I haven’t enjoyed the process at all. There we are, perception is reality.’
On the show, Burley and Balegde will be joined by 10 other stars: Alexandra Burke, Danny Miller, Gethin Jones, Jordan Banjo, Maddie Grace Jepson, Sheli McCoy, DJ Spoony, Richie Anderson, Laura Smyth and Toni Laites.
Speaking about what to expect from the first full-length celebrity series, Lord Sugar said: ‘We’ve not done anything like this before, and it’ll be entertaining to see these 12 celebrities being put through six weeks of some brilliant business challenges.
‘But just because they’re celebrities, it doesn’t mean they’re going to get an easy ride, especially when there’s £100,000 at stake for their chosen charity.’
Although it was originally tipped to broadcast later this year, new reports have emerged that the release has been delayed to early 2027, so fans will have to wait and see how it all unfolds.
Metro has reached out to Kay Burley and Max Balegde’s representatives. The BBC has declined to comment.