After a six-year hiatus, Celebrity Apprentice Australia is back for its most dramatic season yet.
Filled with famous faces, the cast will battle it out to win money for their chosen charity, with CEO and business magnate Lord Alan Sugar at the helm (and in charge of the firing).
For those unfamiliar, Sir Alan Sugar is a British businessman, author, and politician, who founded the consumer electronics company Amstrad, which became his largest business venture ever. It’s also not his first time appearing on reality television, with Sugar having hosted BBC’s reality competition series, The Apprentice.
This year’s hopefuls include the sister pop duo The Veronicas (Lisa and Jess Origliasso), Married At First Sight’s Martha Kalifatidis, kaftan queen Camilla Franks and Survivor all-star winner David Genat, as well as The Block’s Shaynna Blaze and former Biggest Loser trainer Michelle Bridges.
Read on for every contestant to be eliminated from Celebrity Apprentice Australia in 2021.
Alex Hayes
Alex, a 23-year-old artist, athlete, and social media influencer, was the first contestant fired from the Celebrity Apprentice boardroom.
The first challenge revolved around a photoshoot, and Lord Sugar was not pleased with Team Momentum’s team decision to not use supermodel David in their photographs in favour of Alex. “You don’t buy a stallion and use it to plough a field, if you know what I mean,” he told the group.
“Martha, it’s not quite clear in my mind what you actually did,” Sugar continued as the group looked tense. “And I’m sorry to say, Shaynna, this has not been a very successful task, and for that reason, I’m struggling with what I have to do next.”
“Alex, you’re fired,” he finally announces, and the influencer is removed from the Boardroom.
For his charity, Alex chose to support the Batyr foundation as a mental health ambassador, bringing awareness and education to young Australians on mental resilience. “Alex has been supporting the Batyr charity for over three years through various fundraising initiatives such as, raising money for during his preparation to compete in the Molokai 2 Oahu World Paddle Championships (a 32-mile paddle in Hawaii)—where Alex and his teammate Fletcher Davies placed third in the world.
Rob Shehadie
Actor and comedian Rob Shehadie became the second celebrity fired by Lord Sugar from Celebrity Apprentice after his team lost the tourism challenge. Speaking to 9Now following the eviction, the 4-year-old revealed he was more “annoyed” by criticism from Advisor Janine Allis than about his actual performance, later being put forward by the group’s Project Manager, Camilla Franks.
“One thing that got to me was I was reading off my phone [while acting as a tour guide in the challenge],” he reflected. “I didn’t realise it was a Year 12 exam that I had to study everything—interesting, because other people had clipboards and were reading off clipboards, so it doesn’t make sense, so I just don’t get it.”
Rob’s charity was Save Our Sons, a foundation founded in 2009 that is the peak body for those living with Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy across Australia. The charity’s mission is to find a cure while working to improve life quality and educational properties of those who suffer from the condition, as well as their families.
“That’s hurt the most but I have raised some awareness for what they do and their fight to solve the condition Duchenne muscular dystrophy,” Rob said.
Olivia Vivian
After Team Momentum lost the Yum Cha service challenge, Australian Ninja Warrior star Olivia Vivian was fired by Lord Sugar.
“I realised it would be outside my comfort zone, and I encourage people to step outside their comfort zone because that’s how you learn, how you grow,” she said of her experience. “I can leave saying I did the best I could—I’m grateful for the insight. I can move forward and make better decisions in the future and I gave it my all.”
Olivia’s chosen charity was the Melanoma Institute Australia, a charity close to her heart. “It’s a very personal charity to me. I lost my father to the cancer and I’m here to make sure I’m raising as much money and awareness so the Melanoma Institute can continue their mission for zero deaths,” she said.
Anthony Callea
After losing the fashion-focused challenge, where teams were tasked with designing new prints for Budgy Smugglers, Anthony Callea, Shaynna Blaze, and Martha Kalifatidis faced off in the Boardroom.
In the fiery Boardroom exchange in front of Lord Sugar, Martha was called out for being a poor Project Manager, but ultimately it was Anthony who was fired. “Anthony… I do not understand what you did on this task to be perfectly frank. You were head of launch… Anthony, you’re fired,” Lord Sugar said.
Anthony’s chosen charity was the Children’s Cancer Foundation. “I was in a position to be able to raise $20,000 for my charity, the Children’s Cancer Foundation. That is so beautiful, to be able to go back to them and say, ‘Here is $20K’,” Anthony said.
Michelle Bridges
After the shock twist that Lord Alan Sugar would not be firing anyone on episode five of Celebrity Apprentice, he made good on his promise to send “two entities” following the Trash to Treasure challenge.
The latest project managers were pop sister duo, The Veronicas, Lisa and Jess Origliasso, who decided to keep Scherri-Lee Biggs and Michelle Bridges in the Boardroom.
In the end, it was Michelle who was on Lord Sugar’s chopping block.
“It’s a shame, the way that the cookie crumbles,” he told the room. “But unfortunately I have to stick to my rules. Michelle, foreman/forelady, you weren’t a very good forelady… Michelle, you’re fired.”
Michelle’s chosen charity on the reality series was Women’s Community Shelters, a charity that supports women and children facing domestic or family violence and homelessness.
“Recently I found myself in a position where I am a single parent, the challenges that come with that alone are huge,” she explained, via 9Now. “So that, along with not having a home to go to, suffering domestic or family violence, to add all of these elements on to that, how frightening.”
The Veronicas
The time finally came for Lord Alan Sugar to deliver on his promise of two evictions, following Michelle Bridges’ exit. The decision came down to project managers The Veronicas, and Scherri-Lee Biggs, who Lord Sugar believed was not deserving of being in the Boardroom.
“I believe you’ve brought the wrong person into this Boardroom,” he said, referring to David Genat’s actions in the challenge.
Despite losing the challenge, Shaynna Blaze told Lisa and Jess that she would be passing over her winning charity’s money for their own, The Brain Foundation, in honour of their mother Colleen, who was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia.
“It’s yours. We’re here for things that are so close to our heart. You’re here for all the right reasons. You’re here for your mum, and I can’t walk away without giving that money to you,” she told the pop duo.
Prior to their firing, the sisters took to social media to hit back at Celebrity Apprentice over the edit they claimed painted them to be “spoiled brats.”
“The fact they have edited this to seem like emotional manipulation and blackmailing people for sympathy is awful. Being gaslit on an edit over something so close to our hearts is truly beyond comprehension. We are grateful there was money made for all the charities involved,” they wrote.
David Genat
Survivor champion David Genat became the latest star to get fired from Celebrity Apprentice, with Lord Alan Sugar realising he was “playing the game.”
Following the elimination, Genat told 9Entertainment that was “very salty” about the decision.
“I think Lord Sugar like doesn’t like me very much. I think he did not appreciate me calling his whatever this is a game. But business is a game, life’s a game, are we not playing a game? Apparently not, it’s very serious.”
If it were up to Genat, comedian Ross Noble would have been on the chopping block.
The star’s chosen charity was the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, whose mission is to “better diagnose, treat, predict and prevent disease”, which conducts important research on lupus. His wife, Pearl Christensen, was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease.
Scherri-Lee Biggs
After a marketing challenge that saw Scherri-Lee Biggs fell short, Lord Alan Sugar fired her from the Boardroom.
“Scherri-Lee, I think clearly the failure in this task was brought about by not enough people bring brought to be questioned,” Lord Sugar said. “Therefore Scherri-Lee, you’re fired.”
The former Miss Universe Australia chose her Dress For Success Perth as her charity, telling 9Now: “This is a charity supporting women who are coming out of domestic violence. Women with vision impairments. Women who are refugees. The whole concept is that they build their confidence up and provide them with the skills to get them back into the workforce.”
Camilla Franks
It was a boys vs. girls week on Celebrity Apprentice, with teams tasked with creating no easy ask: a sleepover that catered to six kids and their parents at Madame Tussauds.
While Wippa made an early exit after falling ill, Josh Gibson and Ross Noble pulled through to host an epic experience. They even had famous chef Matt Moran cook an epic three-course meal for the parents.
“The killer was the breakfast… and the killer was the fact that you didn’t have any money left,” Lord Sugar said. “The reason for that was because you were fed wrong information by Camilla. Camilla. You’re fired.”
Franks’ chosen charity was the National Breast Cancer Foundation, a cause close to the designer’s heart having battled breast cancer herself in 2018.
Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli
After an Ice Cream challenge that pitted the boys, Wippa, Ross Noble, and Josh Gibson, against the remaining ladies, Shaynna Blaze and Martha Kalifatidis, it was ultimately a disaster for Team Fun-Raisers, who managed to take home only $682 in profits home (compared to the winning team’s $1,636).
Lord Sugar handed down his verdict, sending project manager Wippa home: “So Wippa I do see that that is really down to you as the Project Manager. You’re fired,” he said.
Speaking with 9Now following his exit, Wippa said he didn’t think he should have been the one sent home.
“The Boardroom was heavy,” he said. “All I could do was try and state that I thought we’d done a good job. It came down to me being the Project Manager and me being responsible.”
“I said Ross should have been fired and I came to that conclusion by answering the question, ‘Who would I want to take in out of the two of them?’ or ‘Who couldn’t I have done the task with?’ and that would have been Josh,” Wippa explained.
In the end, Wippa was proud to have raised an impressive $185,000 for his chosen charity, the Cooper Rice-Brading Foundation, an organisation that funds clinical research to find a cure for sarcoma and raise awareness.
Martha Kalifatidis
After making it to the final four, former MAFS star Martha became the 11th person fired from the Celebrity Apprentice Boardroom.
The reality star’s eviction came just an episode after a “cheating scandal” had viewers calling for her to be sent home, and it would seem Martha couldn’t quite get a handle on creating a sellable product out of tennis balls.
“Can I say something?” Martha interrupted Lord Sugar as he was preparing to make a final decision. “This will change my life. It will literally open so many doors.”
“I’m not just an influencer, I’m not just a beauty blogger, I’m not just a make-up artist, and it will give me so many opportunities.”
It was with those parting words that Martha was sent packing, but not without taking home some impressive winnings for her chosen charity Bully Zero.
Josh Gibson
As the final two were announced, Lord Sugar decided that it was Josh Gibson’s time to head home from the Celebrity Apprentice Boardroom.
Despite being fired, Gibson told 9Now he had “no hard feelings.”
“With the four people left you could have made a case for anyone being fired and anyone staying and ultimately it gets super tight at the end,” he said. “Ultimately Lord Sugar fired me because he thinks that I like to sit on the fence. There’s two ways you can look at that. I feel even in my own business with the gyms I don’t single one person out all the time. We work together.”
Gibson’s chosen charity was My Room Children’s Cancer Charity, a volunteer-led organisation that works to support patients and families affected by cancer.
