Entertainment
Dragons’ Den star Sara Davies ‘absolutely devastated’ by Tej Lalvani’s exit as she talks future of BBC show
Dragons’ Den star Sara Davies has spoken about Tej Lalvani’s decision to leave the show, saying she was ‘devastated’ by the news.
The new series will see businesswoman Sara join Tej, Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones and Touker Suleyman to fight it out in the Den – but the new episodes will be Tej’s last.
Tej, who is the CEO of Vitabiotics, previously revealed his decision to leave in order to place greater focus on his own business ventures.
‘I’m absolutely devastated that Tej is stepping down after this series,’ Sara told Metro.co.uk.
‘I can understand it. Because what you don’t see is that while we do all of that investing in the Den, actually it’s what comes after that which takes the time.’
Sara went on to say: ‘It’s mentoring those businesses and following them through. So you’ve got to make that commitment to either have a team in place like Peter Jones, or if not that becomes your primary career.’
Tej joined the programme in the 15th series, replacing Nick Jenkins who starred in just one season. Tej, 46, previously said that he is ‘truly excited’ for the new series of Dragons’ Den, which ‘looks set to be one of the best’.
Sarah also spoke about her co-stars Peter and Deborah, who have been on the show since its inception in 2005.
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Could Sara see herself staying on the show as long as they have?
‘By the time you build up a portfolio, absolutely you’ve got to then put in the work,’ she said.
‘I put quite a good strong team around me after the first series, and obviously we’ve already filmed the second series and we’ve planned for the third series.’
Sara went on to say: ‘For me, it’s a case of “How do I strengthen and wide now that team and then how do I cope with that?”
‘I love to think I could make a good career investing long term.’
Dragons’ Den returns at 8pm on April 1 on BBC One.
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