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Dragons’ Den fans have noticed the moment Steven Bartlett was left squirming in his chair during a pitch for a vitamin and supplements company – not long after he was alleged to have shared harmful health misinformation on his podcast.
On the latest episode of the BBC show, Mr Bartlett was left looking uncomfortable during a pitch in which two hopeful entrepreneurs spoke about the importance of science-backed health information.
Last month, a BBC World Service probe alleged thatThe Diary of a CEO podcast host had shared dozens of harmful health claims that go against scientific evidence.
On Thursday night’s episode of Dragons’ Den – which was filmed before the investigation – cousins and co-founders Issa and Ash Patel presented a health-related pitch to Mr Bartlett and his fellow dragons.
When being questioned about their vitamin and supplement company Diso 18, the pair explained clinical studies researching their product were currently underway.
“Coming from a background in regulated industries in healthcare, we are very aware of not making claims that are not backed by real science,” Ash told the dragons.
Viewers were bemused when immediately after, the camera cut to a shot of Mr Bartlett looking uncomfortable and glancing away.
One fan took to X to share the clip and wrote: “Dragons’ Den just destroyed Steven Bartlett in the edit.”
Another said: “We’re very aware of not making claims that are not backed by real science”. Shot cuts to Steven Bartlett. Hilarious.”
Issa and Ash Patel left the den without an investment, with Mr Bartlett telling the duo he believed their products were “not innovative or different”.
The other dragons said the product had stuck to the roof of their mouths.
Mr Bartlett’s podcast, launched in 2017, is reportedly the fastest growing podcast in the world having recently reached 1 billion views and listens across the Apple, Spotify and YouTube platforms.
But last month, the BBC claimed that across 15 health-related episodes, an average of 14 harmful health claims were made in each. The investigation, done the help of health professionals, claimed that anti-vaccine conspiracies and the downplaying of the success of proven cancer treatment were among the misleading claims made.
At the time, a spokesperson told The Independent that each episode of the podcast is “thoroughly researched” which “offers guests freedom of expression”.
They added that the BBC had looked at only 15 episodes of nearly 400 published to date.
“For any reporting to focus on less than 4 per cent of episodes with an extremely limited proportion of guests – some of whom have featured on the BBC – to create a broader, and in our opinion, partial narrative is disappointing, misleading and frankly, disingenuous,” they added.
In an episode in October, cancer researcher Dr Thomas Seyfried told Mr Bartlett that the treatment of cancer could be helped by following a keto diet, the BBC said. He compared modern cancer treatments to “medieval cures”.
When approached by the BBC, Mr Seyfriend stood by the statements he made on the podcast interview.
In another podcast episode in July, doctor Aseem Malhotra told Mr Bartlett said the “Covid vaccine was a net negative for society”, the BBC said.
Speaking to the BBC, Dr Malhotra defended his statement, claiming because people disagreed, it “does not mean that they have been debunked”.
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