Dragons’ Den’s most brutal showdowns – from storming off set to vicious bidding wars

LONG-RUNNING business show Dragons’ Den has been a hit with viewers since it first aired in 2015, especially for its dramatic showdowns.

Dragons, Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones, Touker Suleyman, Tej Lalvani and Sara Davies provide some of the show’s most tense moments, whether it’s between themselves or facing off against budding entrepeneurs.

The business hopefuls get three minutes to pitch their business ideas to five multimillionaires who are willing to invest their own cash to kick-start the businesses.

After each pitch, the Dragons have the opportunity to ask questions about the venture.

A Dragon who, having heard the pitch, does not wish to invest, must declare themselves “out”, implying that they leave the discussion.

The eighteenth series of the series which has just wrapped saw the Dragons pledge a record-breaking £2.1 million on new businesses – an increase of almost 10 per cent on the previous best.

The new series is expected to still be hosted by Evan Davis and will introduce new Dragon, Steven Bartlett who is replacing Tej Lalvani.

Let’s take a look back at some of the most fiery moments which is the reason we love to tune in to Dragons’ Den.

ESCAPE FROM REALITY

Dave Murphy’s pitch to fund his virtual escape rooms website ended up causing an off-air bust-up between Sara and her fellow Dragon, Touker.

In scenes cut from the final edit of Thursday night’s BBC One episode, the rich investors got into an argument after Sara goaded Touker by teasing: “He didn’t want you, he wanted me.”

Disappointed Touker – who had predicted Dave would get a clean sweep of offers – moaned he wanted to re-shoot the scenes so he could poach Dave from crafting queen Sara.

But it all ended well for Dave who, since shooting the episode for the 18th series back in September 2020, Dave’s company Trapped in the Web has quadrupled its profits.

FOOD FIGHT

Business gurus Peter and Touker clashed as they fought to seal the deal for a business deal with entrepreneur Jack Niber, the CEO and founder of the sugar-free company, PureSweet.

He aims to bring the “highest quality of sugar-free products while not compromising on taste and staying 100 per cent natural.”

Jack impressed the dragons with his £1.5 million profit and on course to turn a massive £1.4 million over this year.

Tension built as Peter and Toukar offered identical offers.

Toukar told Jack he has a black book with accounts open in all the retailers.

But Peter cut his fellow investor off sharply by asking: “What food brands have you got in retail?”

Toukar replied: “Well I’d say I’ve taken brands, not food brands.

“Peter, with all due respect, if you’re a shrewd businessman you can adapt to any… I disagree with you.”

Peter interrupted: “When it comes to food across a wide range, nobody has done more.”

Jack admitted he was hoping to get two dragons, ideally Peter and Tej who ended up happy to agree to five per cent each.

DEB STORMS OFF

Deborah stormed off the Dragons’ Den set and snapped “leave him to it” at a gobsmacked Peter.

The episode saw brothers Scott and David Borthwick try to get an investment for their alcohol range which is targeted at the darts community.

They explained that the dragon who had the highest score with three darts had a slight advantage if there was a bidding war between them.

The brothers failed to get any of them in invest in their business, but one thing that left a smile on Peter’s face was the dart board.

He was determined to beat Sara and told the rest of the investors: “I’m not stopping until I beat 64.”

Unfortunately he only managed to get seven points and one person who had enough with his messing around with Deborah.

As she walked off she said: “Come on guys, let’s leave him to it…”

WORK IT OUT WHILE WORKING OUT

Things stayed pretty tense for Deborah following her storm off, when she and Touker put questions to budding entrepreneur Sharon Keegan about her niche activewear brand.

They listened as Sharon explained she launched her brand Peachy Keen to provide comfortable active wear for women aged between 27 and 45 years of age, especially women had given birth.

The first tense moment came when Deborah struggled to find the right words for Sharon.

Then Touker stepped in to ‘help’ his co-star by finishing her sentence, saying “signature”.

A clearly annoyed Deborah, turned to Touker and tersely told him, “thank you very much Touker”, as Peter stared on in amusement.

BUDDING BUSINESSMAN GETS MAD

It’s not only the Dragons whose tempers are seen to fray on the show.

Marco Hajikypri told multi-millionaire Peter he would live to regret his “foolish” decision as he stormed off the BBC programme.

The Dragons valued his business at well below £2million and Deborah told him, “this is like arguing with cotton wool!” when he objected to the price tag.

She became irate with the budding businessman during a row about whether he’d trademarked his company.

She told the businessman: “It’s not trade marked is it? It is an examination and acceptance for a trade mark application. Please don’t look me in the eye and tell me you thought you had a trade mark.”

Following the show he blasted the Dragons as “pathetic”and said he was only ever on the show for their contacts, not their investment.

But now the Birmingham-based businessman claims his Professional Gains health food company has received a £90million takeover bid.