Deborah Meaden, worth an estimated £40million, has revealed she turned down Dragons' Den three times before becoming one of its longest-serving investors over 20 years. The 67-year-old joined the BBC business show in 2006, replacing Rachel Elnaugh.
Initial fears about fame
“I’d seen the first two series and I loved it, but when they asked me, I turned it down, three times. I thought, ‘No, thank you very much. I’ve built a very nice life and it’s private,’” she said. A producer, Helen Buller, convinced her otherwise. “Thank goodness she did because I absolutely love it. But, honestly, I thought, ‘I’ll do it for a couple of years and then move on.’ And here I am, 20 years later, still loving it.”
Meaden, who has appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, The Great British Bake Off, Celebrity Gogglebox, The Crystal Maze and Taskmaster, said the fame from Dragons' Den is unique. “It’s not based on the way you look, the way you sing, the way you dance, it’s based on business,” she explained.
Recognition worldwide
Even in remote locations, she gets recognised. “I was in north-west Australia, which is about as remote as anything,” she said. “We’d just driven the Gibb River Road, parked the car and walked into a tiny little airport and I could see this woman looking at me and she came up and said, ‘You look ever so like that woman off Dragons’ Den,’ in her broad Australian accent. And I nearly got away with it, but I then said, ‘Oh, do I?’ And as soon as I spoke, she said, ‘You are that woman off Dragons’ Den!’”
She added: “There is literally nowhere in the world that I can go. But I don’t mind, it’s a very nice kind of fame. It’s people who just want to talk about their business or their ideas or opportunities and that’s great.”
Celebrity Traitors wish
Next on her wish list is The Celebrity Traitors. “Oh, I’d quite like to do that,” she said. “I’d love it. Strictly was amazing, Bake Off was amazing… but Traitors is definitely, definitely on my list.” However, after watching the first series, she prefers to be a Faithful, not a Traitor. “Alan Carr must have felt so bad, I don’t want to do that,” she said.
New female Dragons
In the new series, beauty entrepreneurs Susie Ma, 37, and Jenna Meek, 33, return as full-time Dragons, having previously been guests. It’s the first time there have been three women in the Den. Meaden said: “First of all, I love guest Dragons because they change the dynamic. If you sit for a long time with the same group of people, you know what they’re going to say and you can guess what they’re going to offer, but you put new people in there and suddenly everybody lifts their game. Jenna and Susie have got business experience in spades because they have built their businesses from scratch. I’ve learned a lot. It’s really good to have people who are experts in their field and to have three women in the Den.”
Regulars Peter Jones, 60, and Steven Bartlett, 33, complete the line-up, with Touker Suleyman, 73, appearing in his final episodes after announcing his departure in June. In the opening episode, the men team up against the women with a counteroffer. “I saw them in that first episode, they felt it,” said Meaden. “They felt like they had to come together to try and compete. I like Susie and Jenna. They’re good.”
Still loving it
Meaden said this series is one of the best. “I say it gets better every year, but it does,” she said. “I’m never going to just sit there. I’m not interested in being ‘famous’. I’m not interested in being on television for the sake of it. What I am interested in is the fact that Dragons’ Den manages to find some amazing entrepreneurs, whether they’re good, bad, crazy or off the planet. It’s ideas and creativity and energy and I will sit down in that chair and as long as I still get that feeling – I love it.”
Dragons’ Den airs Thursday 20 August at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
