The Apprentice candidates had to embrace their inner child in this week’s task as Lord Sugar challenged them to host a children’s party for some high spending clients.

With £2,000 in the kitty, the teams were charged with throwing an event to remember – while keeping costs low and expectations high.

Faced with two tricky teens and even harder to please parents, it became clear these parties would be memorable for all the wrong reasons.

The Apprentice party task
(Boundless/BBC)

Lord Sugar picked the project managers this week, choosing Gary Poulton – whose business plan involves running events – as PM for Versatile and events planner Selina Waterman-Smith for Connexus.

But Selina’s grand plans soon come up against a huge oversight that threatens to see the task crumble before they’ve even served the birthday cake.

Elsewhere in her group, a tight-fisted party pooper risks spoiling the birthday girl’s big day and a performance of Britney Spears’ Hit Me Baby One More Time makes the guests wince.

On the other team, cost-cutting measures see two of the candidates take charge of a high-ropes course for a teen boy’s birthday, but their lacklustre double act fails to cause a splash – until the guests shove them in the nearest river.

The Apprentice
(Boundless/BBC)

The day gets worse as a severe nut allergy and a chain of misinformation forces one guest into quarantine until the offending chocolate spread packaging can be found – then a blunder with party bags and T-shirts leaves some very unhappy customers.

Back in the boardroom, the figures are totted up – and while it’s celebrations for one team, it’s finger-pointing for the other.

With tensions rising, Lord Sugar takes an unprecedented step.

Catch the latest episode of The Apprentice on November 25 at 9pm on BBC One.