Celebrity Apprentice 2025: All the scathing reviews of winning biscuit Gary the Penguin will leave you in hysterics
It appears Jolly McTrouble is the real winner hereCelebrity Apprentice 2025‘s winners created Gary the Penguin to triumph in Lord Alan Sugar’s spin-off series – but the reviews of the Christmas biscuit are scathing!
JB Gill led teammates Sarah Hadland, Angela Scanlon, Matt Morsia, Shazia Mirza and Thomas Skinner to victory with the festive snack.
They even managed to sell a staggering 452,000 Gary the Penguin biscuits to huge retailers, including Tesco, ASDA and Ocado.
But although all the profits went to Children in Need, customers who have actually eaten the biscuit haven’t held back on their thoughts.
Celebrity Apprentice: Gary the Penguin biscuit
JB, Shazia and Thomas created the flavour of Gary the Penguin and they opted for bubblegum, lemon and white pepper.
Speaking to Lord Sugar, JB said of the taste: “You tasked us with doing something that was going to stand out on the shelves. Our whole focus was trying to do something that’s a little bit different but still wasn’t offensive to any palate.”
But even Lord Sugar uttered “blimey” as the white pepper kicked in while he ate Gary the Penguin in the boardroom. This was mild compared to some customers’ reviews, though.
After the biscuits went on sale earlier this month, one person gave it one out of five stars on Tesco’s website. They said: “Horrible, tasted like it was not edible and super spicy.”
Another added: “Sadly it was completely inedible – like eating a spicy bar of soap. Had one bite and had to bin the rest as no one else in the house would eat it! Not sure how you get gingerbread so wrong.”
Writing on Ocado’s website, one lady said: “My 4 year old grandson adores a gingerbread biscuit but not this one! He only had a few bites, then gave it back as it was ‘biting his throat’.
“I tried it and agreed with him; awful – like swallowing black pepper whole! Then the bubblegum kicks in… Sadly, he is now very wary of any gingerbread.”
And someone else added: “I feel bad giving a negative review for a product for charity but this is the spiciest and most horrible gingerbread I’ve ever eaten.
“I thought maybe I had a bad batch but looks like others have had same experience. Threw away after a couple of bites … I hope the burning in my mouth goes soon!”
Oh dear!
Jolly McTrouble is the real winner
Both Gary the Penguin and its rival Jolly McTrouble went on sale together. They were sold at £1.65 each and 100 per cent of the sale price has gone to Children in Need.
Retailers have now sold out of both biscuits, but it seems Jolly McTrouble was the real winner of The Celebrity Apprentice 2025.
The biscuit was created by the show’s losing team, headed up by Project Manager Rob Rinder. His teammates were Jake Wood, Kadeena Cox, Eddie Kadi, Charlie Hedges and AJ Odudu.
They opted for a toffee flavour biscuit with Christmas pudding and vanilla icing. It was shaped like Father Christmas’ ‘naughty brother’.
One Ocado customer described Jolly McTrouble as “delicious”, adding: “Really really tasty – buying again!” Agreeing, someone else raved: “Yum! I really liked the flavour!”
And a third wrote: “I liked these biscuits because they are softer than the average gingerbread biscuit you can buy in supermarkets.”
It seems the proof really is in the biscuits…
Read more: The Traitors: When series 4 starts as Claudia Winkleman reveals exactly how she picks the Traitors
The Celebrity Apprentice returns for a full series on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in 2026.
