Former Dragons’ Den investor claims contestants are ‘bullied on unfair show’

A former Dragons’ Den investor has claimed that contestants were sometimes ‘bullied’ and subjected to unfair treatment on the show.

Richard Farleigh, who appeared as a Dragon during the BBC show’s third and fourth series, opened up about his time on the programme.

The Australian-born investor joined the show in 2006 alongside Deborah Meaden, replacing Doug Richard and Rachel Elnaugh, before leaving the series in 2007.

Reflecting on his time in the Den nearly 20 years later, Farleigh said in a LinkedIn post that the experience contestants went through left him ‘uncomfortable’.

‘For the contestants, it was a terrifying experience,’ he wrote.

‘And for many, it was the most important day of their business lives.’

Farleigh explained how entrepreneurs were not allowed to see the set before filming and would walk in to find themselves facing five Dragons and around 20 production crew members.

‘The dragons had all the advantages,’ he said.

‘Only about 10% of the footage made it to the final edit, and I suspect the BBC wasn’t keen on letting the dragons look too silly. In contrast, the same couldn’t be said for the contestants.

‘I was shocked by how nasty some of the other dragons were. The producers said the show needed a bit of nastiness – otherwise, contestants would have nothing to lose. There would be no sense of jeopardy.’

He claimed the Dragons would sometimes ‘over-criticise’ a presentation or contestant ‘to the point of ridicule’.

‘It was an unfair game – the dragons didn’t have much at stake, sitting comfortably in their chairs and sounding clever, while contestants had everything to lose,’ he said.

‘Occasionally, it even felt like bullying, which made me uncomfortable.’

Farleigh then recalled one incident where he was asked to speak to a contestant after filming because the man was extremely upset.

The contestant allegedly said that he had been told: ‘You’re either stupid or dishonest, or probably both. I was shocked.

‘He confided in me that he, too, had come through the care system and had hoped I would be the dragon to invest.

‘I told the director, politely, that if that footage ever made it on air, I would quit the show and publicly condemn it. Fortunately, the moment stayed off screen.’

Farleigh’s comments come nearly two decades after his time on Dragons’ Den, which sees business owners pitch their ideas to a panel of investors in the hope of securing funding in exchange for a stake in their company.

The investor stressed that his criticism did not apply to every appearance on the show, saying the programme was fair to contestants ‘in the vast majority of cases’ and that he enjoyed working with the BBC.

The BBC has declined to comment on Farleigh’s claims.