The BBC has shared which 12 personalities will be taking part in the next series of The Celebrity Apprentice.
In Christmas 2025, two celebrity Apprentice spin-offs packed 12 all-star applicants off to Lapland to develop their own gingerbread biscuits for Lord Alan Sugar.
And it was former JLS star JB Gill’s team which roared to victory, with their Gary the Penguin scoring a landslide 452,000 orders.
With speculation rife as to which celebrities will be involved when the show returns for its first full series, the BBC have confirmed who’ll be competing for Lord Sugar’s approval – including a beloved Emmerdale actor, British pop royalty, and one of the broadcaster’s own Gladiators.
Hinted Lord Sugar of the new series: ‘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.
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‘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.’
Alexandra Burke
Musician and Hallelujah cover artist Alexandra will join Lord Alan for The Celebrity Apprentice, 18 years after her X Factor win.
The signer and West End star, 37, went on to become one of the show’s most enduring winners, releasing three studio albums over the past two decades.
Having sold over 5 million records and with over 200 million streams to her name, Alexandra is no stranger to success.
But will her musical achievements translate to performance in the boardroom?
No stranger to reality TV, she previously finished in second place on the fifteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing and was the last woman standing in 2021’s Celebrity SAS… making her a formidable opponent.
Danny Miller
Aaron Dingle star Danny Miller will be swapping the Dales for Lord Alan’s boardroom, the BBC have confirmed.
Danny, 35, returned to the soap in 2023, and has been at the thick of the action between Aaron’s romance with murderer John Sugden and the shock return of his ex-husband Robert.
A TV insider previously told The Sun: ‘Danny stands a good chance of doing well because he won the 2021 series of I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here!
‘Whenever he gets the chance to show off his endearing personality, he wins over viewers — particularly as it’s a surprising departure from his slightly grouchy character in Emmerdale.’
As well as his I’m A Celeb win, Danny has also appeared on episodes of Richard Osman’s House of Games, Celebrity Mastermind and The Weakest Link.
Gethin Jones
Welsh television presenter Gethin Jones, 48, rose to fame as one of the hosts of Blue Peter from 2005 – 2008.
In 2020, he began hosting Morning Live for the BBC, as well as episodes of The One Show and Pointless.
During his tenure on Blue Peter, the former rugby union player became renowned for taking on extreme challenges, which included flying with the Red Arrows and exploring the Bolivian jungle.
He has also competed on Strictly and Celebrity MasterChef, meaning that he’ll be up to whatever challenge Lord Sugar has up his sleeve this time.
Jordan Banjo
Jordan Banjo found fame in the third series of Britain’s Got Talent, as a member of dance troupe Diversity.
While Jordan, 33, still finds time to fit in his Diversity duties, the gang’s win propelled him to a career in television – appearing in a host of reality shows over the following years.
This has included 2016’s series of I’m A Celeb, and celebrity episodes of The Chase and Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Of late, Banjo has turned his talent to a career in boxing, during which he defeated Love Island star Wil Anderson in a 2025 bout.
Will the Celebrity Apprentice be another knockout for the Diversity star?
Kay Burley
TV presenter Kay, 65, began her work for local television and radio in the 1980s, before becoming a prominent member of the Sky News team in the 90s.
Her coverage included the September 11 attacks in 2001, as well as the death of Princess Diana and wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles.
In February 2025, it was announced that she would be leaving Sky News after a tenure of 36 years.
In 2007, she appeared on the second series of Dancing On Ice, and later appeared on Celebrity Hunted in 2018.
Maddie Grace Jepson
Maddie Grace Jepson is a social media personality and actress, with over 2.1million followers on Tik Tok.
In 2023, she went viral for demonstrating her ‘helicopter arm swing’ on the social media platform – a comedic move, inspired by her training in dancing and musical theatre.
This earned the 26-year-old her breakthrough role in Channel 4’s Big Mood, which she appeared in as Jade, opposite Nicola Coughlan.
She has also appeared on the stage as Ariel in a 2019 production of The Little Mermaid, and as Lorraine in Back to the Future: The Musical.
Max Balegde
27-year-old Max Balegde is another content creator and social media influencer with a huge online following.
The British Tik Tok star finished in 4th place on I’m A Celeb last year, after a stint made memorable for his terrified reaction to the jungle.
This included being confronted by a gecko, which he had initially feared was a dangerous snake.
The Apprentice should prove an altogether less perilous environment for Max… but might his chaotic energy pervade regardless?
Sheli McCoy
Scottish athlete and weightlifter Sheli McCoy is best known as Sabre from the BBC’s Gladiators.
Setting six new world records in weightlifting before joining the Gladiators line-up, the star previously said: ‘It’s very important to me to represent strong women.’
She continued: ‘I want the younger generation to be inspired and grow up knowing that anything is possible.’
Will her competitiveness carry over to the boardroom?
DJ Spoony
Johnathan St John Joseph BEM, known professionally as DJ Spoony, is a presenter of the BBC 2 radio show The Good Groove.
In 2006, Spoony appeared on the third series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Partnered with Ola Jordan, became the third contestant to be eliminated during a shock dance off against Casualty star Georgina Bouzova and Ola’s husband, James Jordan.
The DJ and presenter recently revealed that he was in recovery after suffering a ‘brain bleed’ over Christmas 2024.
Describing the scars as ‘healing amazingly,’ he went on to throw himself back into his work, launching his own late-night show on Radio 2 back in January 2025.
Richie Anderson
Former professional footballer turned presenter Richie Anderson, 38, began a lengthy career in radio for BBC WM between 2015 and 2020.
Since then, he has gone on to present travel on weekday mornings for BBC Radio 2, and reporting for The One Show.
He may be hoping that his performance on the Celebrity Apprentice is more fruitful than previous reality TV experiences – which includes his Week Three elimination on Strictly in 2022.
Furthermore, he faced humiliation when he appeared on Celebrity MasterChef the following year – describing himself as ‘mortified’ after plating up a thoroughly undercooked plate of chicken to the judges.
Richie said that he was ‘gutted’ as he became the first contestant to leave the competition.
Laura Smyth
Comedian and writer Laura Smyth, 44, began working in comedy after deciding to change careers in the wake of COVID lockdown.
Packing up her career as an English teacher, she found success after she was commissioned as a writer on Jack Whitehall’s Bad Education.
At the same time, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, leaving the comedian with an ‘overwhelming dread’ that she’d left her dream too late.
She appeared on Live at the Apollo only two weeks after completing her final course of treatment, and appeared in Baby Reindeer as comedy emcee Glenda.
Toni Laites
Antonia ‘Toni’ Laites became famous through reality TV, winning the twelfth series of Love Island in 2025.
In the months following her Love Island win, Toni shared that she had become ‘homeless’ due to visa issues.
Her visa was subsequently approved, and Toni now lives full time in the United Kingdom.
The Celebrity Apprentice will air on BBC One and iPlayer later this year.
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