The Celebrity Apprentice returns to BBC One for a two-part Christmas special tonight and tomorrow – with comedians Eddie Kadi and Shazia Mirza among those taking part. The celebrities were split into two teams, challenged to travel to Lapland and develop their own gingerbread biscuits as well as creating an advert and a jingle. And for the first time, the results will be on widespread sale in the UK. Here the two comics talk about the experience… 

Shazia Mirza

Why did you say yes to this?

Because it was for Children in Need, so it was charity and I wanted to do that. And also I've watched the show for a very, very, very long time and I've always found it very funny. So I thought, I think this could be a really funny thing to do.

Did you think you could cope with whatever Lord Sugar threw at you?

I think he's very funny, his one-liners and stuff. But also, I've been in comedy clubs where people haven't laughed. I've been on stage at Glastonbury where I've died on my arse in front of 5,000 people. 

I've had people throw things at me. I've had to escape through toilet windows in Sweden because people were offended and I couldn’t face them. I've performed in caves, tents, and bars with two people and a dog. Comedy's really hard and I thought, I've grafted, I've been in the trenches. This is going to be a walk in the park.

How was pitching your product to the supermarkets?

We knew we had a great product with original flavours like bubblegum, white pepper, lemon oil, and nutmeg. It fitted the brief, and everyone who tasted it said it was great. We weren’t worried, we knew it was good and we believed in it, so it was easy to sell.

Did the showwoman in you come out when selling?

Yes, and they loved our pitch. It was funny and they warmed to us because we’d already got them laughing. We laughed all the way to the bank. They made offers during the pitching process. 

Asda offered a big deal if we’d come to Leeds, meet their staff, and do some social media for them. We agreed to all that. I’m going to spend the next few months working in the petrol station at Asda! That was the deal and we had to do it.

What was it like in the boardroom being judged by Lord Sugar?

We had our great product to fall back on, it had been tried and tested, so we knew people loved it. We had a great jingle. We knew the advert could be divisive and we might get some criticism for that but we were prepared for it. 

We all agreed to stick together no matter what. We were stronger together, the other team were bickering and fell apart. Whereas we defended everything we did. 

When he brought up criticism about the flavours we made a joke of that, we defended our video and the packaging. If you don’t believe in your product, no one else will! I think Lord Sugar saw that.

Eddie Kadi

Are you a fan of The Apprentice?

I am an Apprentice fan. I know Tim [Campbell,  Lord Sugar's aide] quite well. It's funny to think he was in the first episode because it's been so long, like 20 years. But he really became an instant role model for a lot of us. 

Genuinely I love The Apprentice for the banter, number one. But also just the challenge of it, the idea of running around town trying to get stuff done.

What did you think of the other celebs on your team?

I have friends for life. I had met Jake Wood briefly on a podcast that we did, but we've never really chilled. And just chilling with him was a joy from the very beginning. I love the idea that everyone's got this image of him, because he's done so well in EastEnders everyone's got this image of him being Max Branning in real life and he is the total opposite. And just the stories and the advice he gave me… he’s slightly older, the advice he gave me was wonderful. 

AJ [Odudu] is my sister I've known for so long. But then to see her put on a business hat, she turned into one of my old secondary school head teachers! 

Then Rob [Rinder] is a joy. He's exactly the same person as Judge Rinder, like in real life. And then you've got Kadeena [Cox], our MasterChef winner, which we thought was perfect for our group. But she made the mistake of getting me involved in the kitchen! And then Charlie Hedges, once again, like my sister, it was like we connected. You knew everyone's emotions. You knew everyone's weakness.

Lord Sugar has great one liners, is he the ultimate heckler?

He's incredible! Lord Sugar means business. He knows everybody. He studied everybody and he knows who he wants to keep, who he doesn't want to keep. But at the same time, he's not letting you finish if you’re chatting nonsense. 

His banter with Tom [Skinner] was ridiculous, same with Matt [Morsia aka Legend]. He doesn't hold back. He's got one liners and he will drop it out of the blue. You have to laugh, you can't help it because it comes out of nowhere.

How would you sum up the experience?

It was one of the best moments of my career and it's certainly a real moment in my life as well… something that I genuinely wanted to do. But I certainly didn't expect the hospitality, the way we were looked after, the fun that we had. Karren [Baroness Brady], Mike and Lord Sugar were so kind. For me it's something I will hold dear because I made some really, really good friends out of it as well. Which is what is it is all about.