Dragons’ Den has been a hit with BBC viewers since it first began back in January 2005.
However, it hasn’t been without its controversies over the past 19 years. Here are some that have surrounded the BBC show since it began…
BBC Dragons’ Den controversies: ‘Fakery row’
The show has recently been accused of ‘fakery’, thanks to an entrepreneur allegedly selling “snake oil” recently.
Last week, Giselle Boxer appeared on Dragons’ Den. She asked the Dragons for £50,000 and a 10% stake in her business selling ear seeds. She claimed that the ear seeds helped cure her chronic fatigue syndrome (ME).
However, she was slammed by viewers and the ME Association. They accused her – and the BBC – of promoting an alternative medicine with no scientific evidence that it can even help with ME or fatigue.
Following the backlash, Boxer claimed that Dragons’ Den bosses actually approached her to appear on the show.
“Funnily enough they [Dragons’ Den] contacted me and I received an email from a researcher there and I initially thought it was a spam email,” she alleged to The Mirror.
“We went through the different stages of the application process and there was so much due diligence and they really looked into every part of my business before I went in to pitch to the Dragons.”
‘Sexism’ row
Back in 2007, Jude Camplin and Chrissie Shaw appeared on the show to pitch their own “female-led” construction business. However, their pitch managed to enrage all of the Dragons that day.
When speaking to Camplin and Shaw, Theo Paphitis tried to explain why their pitch wouldn’t work. “Keeping it simple,” he said as he explained.
“Thank you. We are women,” Jude quipped. Theo wasn’t happy. “You’ve got a terrible attitude,” Duncan Bannatyne fumed.
“On that point, I’ve got a serious issue with that comment,” Theo said. Duncan later branded them “sexist”.
After much back and forth, Jude was told she had a “massive chip on her shoulder” and a “terrible attitude”.
Controversial early departure
Following the first series, Dragon Simon Woodroffe quit the show.
Speaking of his exit, Woodroffe blamed the attitude of the Dragons towards entrepreneurs as the reason behind his departure.
“The show became a battle of egos – not a forum for business innovation,” he said.
“The thing to remember was that when you walk up the stairs to pitch, it’s not five people necessarily thinking, how am I going to be able to make an investment here? They’re also thinking, am I going to be the star of this next little piece? That’s not how I was told the show would go down.”
BBC Dragons’ Den star James Caan offers to buy a baby
Back in 2010, Dragons star James Caan was in Pakistan following floods.
In a visit to a flood-hit village, Caan was captured on cameras offering to buy a family’s baby for 100,000 rupees (£725).
“I’m being 100% serious,” he said. “My brother lives here and he desperately wants to have a baby. We could give this little baby the best life she could ever have.”
He later expressed his regret over his words in an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“In that moment of emotion, you immediately feel there’s something you could do,” he said. “What can you do to increase that child’s survival? So I offered to help the family by offering to adopt the baby and then on reflection realised that the baby belongs to the family and the village and I’m really here to adopt a village, not a baby.”
He then said that he hadn’t been acting rationally.
Doug Richard cleared of child sex offences
In 2015, Doug Richard, who appeared in the first two series of Dragons’ Den, was charged with three counts of sexual activity with a child and one of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity
In January 2016, he appeared in court, where he admitted that sexual activity did occur, but he claimed it was consensual and that he thought she was 17, not 13.
A few days later, Richard was cleared of all charges against him. He was found not guilty of three counts of sexual activity with a child, one of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and one charge of paying for sexual services.
“I feel terrible for her and I feel terrible about myself. I feel terrible for my wife and children,” he said at the time.
Read more: Dragons’ Den series 21 episode 4: Pitches include beautiful Henna tattoos, and Pola ice pops
Dragon’s Den continues tonight (Thursday, January 25) at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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