Sara Davies currently sits at the bottom of the Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard.
The Dragons’ Den star and founder of Crafter’s Companion scored a total of 17 points, with Craig Revel-Horwood dishing out a miserly 3.
Anyone who’s seen Sara on Dragons’ Den will know that the canny businesswoman from County Durham has enough determination and drive not to let this set her back.
As Sara battles to stay in the ballroom, Daily Star checks in on some of her predecessors in the den.
Duncan Bannatyne
No nonsense Duncan, 72, was a Dragon from 2005 to 2015. Born in Clydebank into what he describes as ‘relatively modest circumstances,” his business career began with an ice cream van bought for £450.
Now known as the man behind the Bannatyne’s Health Club chain, he recently revealed that he turned down an unsolicited offer of ‘between £200million and £250million’ for the group.
Last year, Duncan took part in the BBC’s The Real Marigold Hotel. He joined childrens’ TV presenter Paul Chuckle, fashion designer Dame Zandra Rhodes and other ‘retiree celebs’ in the coastal Indian city of Puducherry, living out a retirement home fantasy inspired by the 2011 film.
Duncan has been married three times after tying the knot with his current wife Nigora Whitehorn back in 2017.
He went through an expensive divorce prior to that, after receiving the phone call that his wife of six years, Joanne Cue, wanted a divorce on the set of Dragon’s Den.
Duncan told the Daily Mail: “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.”
As they hadn’t signed a pre-nuptial agreement, Duncan ended up giving £345m to his ex-wife, later sharing his regret at the decision.
Simon Woodroffe
Only die-hard Dragons’ Den fans will remember Simon, who appeared in series one and failed to make ANY investments. Simon, 69, was born in Oxford and founded YO! Sushi in 1997.
He has spoken about how he was 40 and battling depression before a Japanese friend suggested he start the UK’s first conveyor-belt sushi restaurant.
He later sold his stake in the dining chain for £10m (but still gets 1% of the global gross profits), has dabbled in hotels and is a motivational speaker.
“Successful people don’t go around succeeding all day,” Simon said last year. “Successful people fail, they’re willing to step out of the comfort zone and do something and fail.”
Hilary Devey
Bringing 1980s power dressing to the den, Hilary Devey dropped out of school at 16 and was turned down for a bank loan in 1995. Undeterred, the following years she set up Pall-Ex, her pallet distribution business.
It went on to become an international network with a turnover of over £100m, setting the industry standard.
She was already a minor TV star before Dragons’ Den, having appeared in Secret Millionaire and The Business Inspector. Hilary’s time in the den was memorable but brief, as she only did two series from 2010 to 2012. She made a big impression and won lots of new fans.
She jumped over to Channel 4 for a new show, The Intern, which saw her attempt to secure internships for candidates at large companies by giving them a week’s trial in their dream jobs.
It was a ratings flop but she was given another show, Running The Shop in 2015.
Bolton-born Hilary, 67, has since sold her business and focuses on her charity work.
James Caan
Making his money in recruitment, James founded the company, Alexander Mann, in 1985, which he sold in 2002.
Born in Pakistan, James, 60 was on Dragons’ Den from 2007 to 2013.
He now runs a private equity firm and is a motivational speaker. He founded the James Caan Foundation in 2006 and is Chairman of the UK government’s Start-Up Loans Scheme.
Bizarrely, in 2012, James surpassed then- U.S. President Barack Obama and then-UK Prime minister David Cameron in the number of LinkedIn followers, making him the 7th most followed person in the world.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
