He became a household name during his first stint in The Apprentice boardroom, earning an army of fans as the down-to-earth market trader turned business mogul.

And after making a surprise return to Lord Sugar's office for a pair of Celebrity specials, Thomas Skinner has admitted being back on the show 'brought back such emotions'.

The businessman was one of the 16 candidates who took part in the process back in 2019, and despite failing to land Lord Sugar's investment, he has gone on to have found a series of other successful ventures.

In the first of two festival specials, viewers will see Thomas break down in tears as he returns to the boardroom alongside the celebrity lineup, telling Lord Sugar that being on the show has 'changed his life'.

In September, Thomas also took part in Strictly Come Dancing, but faced backlash from viewers when he confessed he'd cheated on his wife Sinead back in 2022.

Thomas, who was paired with pro Amy Dowden, struggled to win over viewers with his moves, and he was the first celebrity to be eliminated.

Speaking about his Apprentice return, Thomas said: 'It was a real honour. I loved doing Apprentice the first time and it was such a great experience.

'It changed my life so much and to be asked back to the Children In Need celebrity version was a real honour, and I was so honoured to be there and help the team and the guys raise money for charity. It brought back such emotions being in the boardroom of how it changed my life.'

In the opening moments of the celebrity specials, Thomas became visibly emotional as he returned to Lord Sugar's famous boardroom, and after filming the episodes, he admitted he didn't expect to have such a reaction when he returned to the show. 

He said: 'No, never in a million years, no. But when I was there it just made me think back to when I was first sitting in that boardroom back in 2019... like I didn't really have anything back then, before I had kids and before I built my businesses up really properly.

'And I sort of sat and thought, "Wow, this experience all those years ago put me on the map really and made me successful I suppose, and opened so many doors for me," so to sit back and help to do it for such a great cause like Children In Need was a proper honour.'

And despite his own background in business, Thomas said he didn't expect any different treatment from the other celebrities on his team.

He said: 'No, listen, I'm a market trader. I sell things at the back of my van, you know what I mean? I'll just go to work, but it was just great to be with these guys. I respect these guys because they're all legends. I was lucky to be there.'

This year's Celebrity Apprentice featured 12 new faces going head-to-head to display their business know-how, with the first team consisting of TV presenter AJ Odudu, Radio 1 DJ Charlie Hedges, comedian Eddie Kadi, EastEnders star Jake Wood, Paralympian Kadeena Cox and presenter and barrister Rob Rinder.

The second team was formed of presenter Angela Scanlon, JLS star JB Gill, Gladiator Matt Morsia, actress Sarah Hadland, Apprentice alumni Thomas and comedian Shazia Mirza.

While stars will be competing for bragging rights in the process, in a historic first the Christmas biscuits created by the celebrity teams are also available to buy in store, with proceeds going to Children In Need.

Although the stars were simply coming together for a good cause, they weren't afraid to show their competitive streak, with the teams regularly clashing over their ideas for the best festive bake.

Angela said: 'I was a bit scared of Lord Sugar in the original boardroom. I actually think we all were, when we first went in, even though you know that it's a charity thing and ultimately you're not playing for like a gig with him, there was definitely, an atmosphere and everyone's sitting up a little bit straight.'

Kadeena said: 'I thought it was absolutely hilarious, having such big personalities with big ideas. 

'It made it fun. It was kind of one had one idea and... I think AJ has the best facial expressions ever.

'But it just made it fun. I think we came up with good ideas eventually.

'When you've got people going back and forth, there was a bit of head-butting, but eventually I think we came out with a good product, even though we didn't have the best plan.'

The Celebrity Apprentice will air on Monday 29th December and Tuesday 30th December at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.