Shark Tank may look all glitz, glam and piles of cash on the surface, but behind the scenes it’s a totally different story.
For the US equivalent of Dragons’ Den, it’s a lot “worse than it looks”, according to Gatsby Chocolate founders Doug and Ryan Bouton. The pair managed to secure a deal worth $500,000 with Mark Cuban after a gruelling 50-minute pitch – but Ryan clarified that these pitches can actually go on for up to two hours.
During an exclusive chat with Daily Star, Ryan confessed that the process is “very intimidating”, and “exactly how it looks on TV” despite a few instances of camera trickery. He revealed: “I always thought, ‘Well it can’t be exactly how it looks on TV. You don’t actually have to stand outside those doors and then walk down that hallway, and the doors open and then you’re standing in front of the Sharks. I’m sure they cut that in some creative way.’
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“Well, I was wrong. It’s exactly like you see on TV, maybe even worse because there’s longer pauses. So you hurry up and get to the doors, then you just hear the countdowns, ‘five minutes, four minutes…’, then your heart starts racing a little bit, you start sweating a bit because there are lights and cameras.”
(Image: ABC)
To make things even worse, there’s an awkward five-minute pause in which contestants have to stand right in front of the Sharks while the cameras frame establishing shots. And it all takes place in absolute silence.
“One thing I found really interesting was that when you first walk into the room with the Sharks and you’re standing on the carpet away from them, they’re getting a lot of shots. Opening shots, scenic shots, just to set the episode,” Ryan said. “So you have to wait to start your pitch.
(Image: ABC)
“Even though they cut it – you walk in and it looks like it’s starting – you actually have to wait two or three minutes and it’s just awkward silence. I thought that was very funny. Your heart is racing, your adrenaline’s going, you’re excited and you’re nervous all at the same time.”
There are some things Ryan wishes made it into the episode that ended up on the cutting room floor, but he says the entire process is entirely unscripted. “It really is,” he revealed. “They say, ‘Whatever happens, we’re just going to film. It could take five minutes, it could take two hours, we’re gonna film it all and whether you get a deal or no deal we’re not going to step in and tell you what to say.'”
(Image: ABC)
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He added: “What you see in the episode was 100% accurate representation, we were in there for about 45 or 50 minutes, that gets cut down to a 10 or 12 minute segment. They did cut a lot of the back and forth, especially with Mr Wonderful who was interested. He ended up making a specific offer, I can’t remember if that was in the pitch or not. It went on for longer than they showed in the episode!”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
