On Thursday, Dragons’ Den viewers were treated to an unexpected surprise when Steven Bartlett decided to try his hand at pole dancing.
Isn’t it all in a day’s work?
The entrepreneur and investor was introduced to pitcher Lisa’s concept by his colleagues Dragons Deborah Meaden, Sara Davies, Peter Jones, and Touker Suleyman.
Lisa, a self-taught entrepreneur, was seeking 30,000 for a 10% ownership in Grip and Glow, a pole dance grip and skincare firm.
Her meticulously crafted mixture aims to boost pole fitness performance by giving the pole greater grip and moisturising properties for dancers.
Steven was tempted to give it a try when two dancers gave an amazing presentation of the goods.
Before swinging himself around, he was shown the proper hand position on the pole and grip.
The podcast presenter completed a nice spin before dismounting with a satisfied grin.
‘Did I do that okay?’ he asked, to praise that it was ‘perfect’ from one of the dancers – and it wasn’t just them who were admiring his prowess.
‘#DragonsDen everyone wants to see Steven on the pole,’ joked one fan, while another tweeted: ‘@StevenBartlett sexy Steven on pole dance [sic],’ with a clapping hands emoji.
‘I don’t think the Dragons expected pole dancing, especially from @StevenBartlett,’ commented one viewer.
‘Steven has done that before,’ laughed another, while one viewer praised his efforts.
‘Loved Steven getting up and having a go,’ they wrote.
Sadly, despite the enjoyment, Lisa’s pitch did not wind up being a winning one as she cracked under the pressure of a financial grilling from the Dragons.
She added that she relied on her accountant for the technical details and couldn’t provide Peter her gross margin on a significant portion of her sales “off the top of her head.”
‘Sorry Lisa, this could be a really short conversation because if I can’t work out how much money your business is going to make, it becomes almost impossible to work out whether I can invest in it or not,’ he pointed out.
When she confessed she couldn’t give him accurate statistics and felt like she looked’really foolish,’ he subsequently applauded her for her honesty, calling it a “great quality to have.”
Deborah and Steven both commended her on her packaging, but pointed out that targeting both a specialised market and the larger beauty business with elements of her Glow Beauty line was confusing.
She did, however, leave with the Dragons’ best wishes for the future, admitting that she wished she had ‘chased up my accountant a bit harder for those statistics’.
Dragons’ Den airs Wednesdays at 8pm on BBC One.