Dragons’ Den first aired in the UK in 2005 and invites promising entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas to 5 multimillionaire investors in under 3 minutes, in the hope of striking an investment agreement in the Den. 
Notable contestants include Levi Roots, inventor of Reggae Reggae Sauce, who came into the Den singing with a guitar – and went on to outsell Heinz beans – the UK’s leading baked beans brand – on the supermarket shelves!

The Dragons don’t actually live in the Den – they have families to go home to once the pitches have stopped.
From dashing husbands to stunning wives, the business tycoons have loved ones to share their immense wealth with when they leave the office.

However, the course of true love hasn’t always run smoothly for most of the Dragons and they have endured massive breakups.
One of them lost his home, his car and his marriage when his business started to crumble, while another was forced to pay out a staggering £345 million amid a messy divorce.
But some have stayed with their childhood sweethearts and been happily married for many years.

The latest series of Dragon’s Den has welcomed a new investor, Steve Bartlett — but what do you need to know about him?
As he takes his seat in the Den alongside the show’s established stars, we find out more about him and his business background.

When he joined the BBC One entrepreneurial pitch show, Steven Bartlett was just 28 years old – making him the youngest ever Dragon.
But while he might have spent fewer years in boardrooms than his fellow Dragons, he’s certainly packed a lot of experience into the time.
He is founder and former CEO of social media marketing agency The Social Chain which he set up from a bedroom in Manchester, after dropping out of university at 22 and taking his company public at 27.
It was obviously a savvy move, as it has a current market valuation of over £300m.

Bartlett said: “I’ve been watching Dragons’ Den since I was 12 years old – it was my first window into the real world of business and investing. It’s a tremendous honour to join the Den, hopefully representing a new generation of entrepreneurs, inspiring young and specifically under-represented entrepreneurs to follow in my footsteps.”

Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett ‘is back together with ex girlfriend Melanie Vaz Lopes’

The 29-year-old multimillionaire revealed he rekindled their relationship after flying for 22 hours on a plane to Bali to declare his love for her.

Steven previously dated Melanie four years ago, but the pair split as the businessman admitted he’d found it hard to commit to anyone outside of his hectic work life.
Surprising the audience attending the first night of his The Diary of a CEO Live show, Steven opened up with a confession of his love for Melanie, who runs a beauty and wellbeing business called Auraya.

An audience member told MailOnline: “It came as a real surprise given Steven has never opened up about his love life but he dedicated an entire segment of his show to Melanie.

It was a huge romantic moment – everyone thought it was part of a big proposal, he didn’t get down on one knee but it’s clear Melanie is The One.”
As Steven held Melanie’s hand, he told the audience he was full of ‘gratitude’ to have her back in his life.

Steven and Melanie originally met on Instagram in 2016 and were together for a year before Steven called it a day.

Acknowledging his regret, Steven described how he took a flight to Bali after hearing Melanie was there on holiday, in an attempt to win her back.
On arrival he found she was in a new relationship, but after spending four days together their romance was rekindled.
But the pair kept things under wraps – even from Steven’s fellow Dragons, who can regularly be heard mentioning him being single on the show.
Steven, who joined the BBC show as its youngest ever Dragon earlier this year, previously admitted: “The way it is with me, between the hours of say seven in the morning and nine o’ clock at night, I am in the zone, I’ve got total tunnel vision.

“I honestly do not realise that there’s anyone else outside of my business and rooms I sit in that exists in terms of my personal and private life.”

CONFESSIONS
He went on: “So if my family or girlfriend text me, or message me during the day, the chances of me engaging in that meaningfully in that period is virtually impossible.
“In the evenings I’m often consumed with the day and I find it hard to switch off and engage with other relationships and that also costs those relationships.”
The Botswana-born businessman replaced Tej Lalvani for the 19th season of the show.

The Mancunian runs several companies and has also published a book; Happy Sexy Millionaire: Unexpected Truths about Fulfilment, Love and Success,.
Steven dropped out of university to run The Social Chain and Media Chain, which he founded at age 22 – and are currently valued at £300 million.
Five years later he took the firm public, and in 2021 he announced two new companies, Thirdweb and Flight Story.
Bartlett has been featured in Forbes’ 30 under 30 list and has won accolades at the Black British Business Awards

Forbes magazine estimated that the entrepreneur was worth $96m (£68m).

Peter Jones & partner Tara Capp
The only original Dragon remaining in the Den is Peter Jones.

The mammoth business tycoon, who was just 16-years-old when he set up his first business, has an estimated net worth of £500million.
When he joined the show way back in 2005, the Jessops money-maker was married to his first wife Caroline, who he married at the age of 21.
The couple had two kids together, Annabel and William, but they divorced in 2008 in messy circumstances.

Peter lost almost everything when one of his clients went bust, including his house, car and marriage – then had to move back in with his parents.
But Peter rebuilt his business empire before meeting current partner Tara Capp, who is a successful interior designer in her own right.

The long-term couple are not married but have three teenage daughters, Natalie, Isabella and Tallulah.
Peter helped Tara co-found her own lifestyle e-commerce company, Truly, which sells affordable products from home decor to baby wear.
Back in 2018, Peter was reportedly furious when close friend Holly Willoughby backtracked on their huge £11million deal to launch Tara’s business.

The two families have been friends for more than 10 years, but Holly’s last-minute decision was seemingly a major blow to Peter and Tara.
In a shock turn of events the This Morning presenter blew off the money-making deal to focus on her ITV and Marks and Spencer contracts worth up to £1.5 million.

Deborah Meaden

Deborah Meaden has been terrifying investors since the third series – but there’s one man who always puts a smile on her face.
The successful entrepreneur, 62, launched a glass and ceramics business straight out of college at the age of 19.
Undeterred by its failure, Deborah took on a franchise for Italian clothing company Stefanel before joining the family business, Weststar Holidays.
While she was in her early 20s back in the summer of 1985, Deborah met her future husband Paul.
He was actually working at Weststar during his university break.
Sadly the couple split up due to the fact she didn’t want to start a family, but things changed when Deborah returned from a trip to Venezuela.

When she came back to London they got back together and got married in 1993.
Deborah and Paul do not have any children but they do have many pets in their 10-bed Somerset home.
They own six horses, five sheep, six ducks, three geese, 10 chickens, three pigs, three dogs and two cats.
At home, Paul is in charge of “domestic chores” and is a “fantastic cook”.
“I hate cleaning so as a student I used to work in a bar at night in order to pay someone to clean my flat. I’ve never told anyone that,” she said in an interview with the Telegraph in 2011.
“I still don’t do any domestic chores; my husband Paul is in charge. It sounds terrible, doesn’t it?”

Duncan Bannatyne

Scottish business sensation Duncan Bannatyne started off with an ice-cream van before building up his famous chain of health clubs,
One of the original Dragons, Duncan announced he was leaving his chair in 2014 after 12 series due to other business commitments.
Duncan has been married three times and has six children from his first two.
He wed first wife Gail Brodie in 1983, who he shares daughter Hollie, Abigail, Jennifer and Eve with, but they divorced in 1994.
Then he tied the knot with Joanne McCue in 2006, mother of his kids Emily and Thomas, but their marriage ended six years later.
Duncan said he received a text from Joanne while filming the ninth series of Dragons Den stating she had field for divorce in the High Court.
“So when I stood in that car park, with my fellow Dragons’ Den judge Peter Jones, shaking with disbelief at Joanne’s text message, I knew it was going to be expensive,” he told the Daily Mail in 2013.
He admitted he regretted not signing a pre-nup as the divorce cost him £345million but he was truly in love.

His eldest daughter also has two kids, Ava and Austin, making Duncan a granddad.
Now the 71-year-old is married to Nigora Whitehorn, who is 31 years younger than the former Dragon.
Duncan fell madly in love with her the first time they met when he visited the Harley Street dental surgery she was working in.
He proposed after two years together and they married in Portugal the following year.
Nigora has stated that age doesn’t matter to her and that Duncan actually has more energy.
Speaking to OK! in January 2020, the couple revealed they are open to starting their own family together.
Duncan explained: “I don’t think it’s going to happen. We tried, but I don’t think we are going to have children.
“We’re not trying to prevent it happening, so if it did, great, but I don’t think it is going to.”
Nigora added: “If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen, but we are not doing anything about it, like IVF, and we are not going to stress about it.”

Tej Lalvani

First walking into the Den for series 15, Tej Lalvani has already invested nearly £2million.
The Vitabiotics CEO, who has grown his scientist father’s business into the largest vitamin company in the UK, celebrated his 10th wedding anniversary this year.
The 46-year-old ’Prince of Vitamins’ tied the knot with wife Tara Ruby in a Sikh ceremony in London in August 2011.
The rich businessman splashed out the cash on a lavish pre-wedding reception and sit-down dinner at the Natural History Museum.
For their honeymoon, the newlyweds flew around the world for week-long stays in Malaysia, Japan and the Maldives.
The couple, who don’t have any children together, are also business partners and run a successful London-based property investment company together.
While Tej has a stunning wife, he also comes from a good looking family himself, as is mother is a former Miss India and a Miss World runner-up.

Sara Davies

The newest Dragon in the Den, Sara Davies became the youngest ever when she joined in 2019 at the age of just 35.
Before founding her crafting company from her bedroom at university, Sara found love with her childhood sweetheart.
She has been married to husband Simon since 2007 and they have two children together named Oliver and Charlie.
She actually credits Simon with helping co-found her thriving company, Crafter’s Companion, which now turns over £34million a year.
The couple, who live in Teeside, don’t always agree on how to raise their kids.
“My husband Simon wants to give the kids the things we could not have – but I want them to have the experiences we did have,” she said on Loose Women.
While her children will have to work for their pocket money, they receive more than she did because of their impressive negotiating skills.

“My six-year-old son will help out at the shop, which my sister owns, and she’ll have him doing the same thing that I was back then,” she told The Mirror.
“With a bit of inflation he will get a couple of quid. My boys can negotiate much better than I can.”

Touker Suleyman

Touker Suleyman brought his 40 years’ retail and manufacturing experience into the Den back in 2015.
The Cyprus-born Londoner has supplied clothes to some of the biggest names of the British high street.
Not much is known about the fashion business mogul’s persona life as he is a very private man.

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