Sarah Willingham and Nick Jenkins have been axed from BBC’s ‘Dragon’s Den’.
Restaurant owner Sarah, 43, and ‘Moonpig’ founder Nick, 49 – who sat alongside fellow entrepreneurs Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones and Touker Suleyman as they listened to business hopefuls pitch their ideas who were in hope of gaining money for an investment – have been dropped from the forthcoming series after "failing to connect with the audience."
A source told the Sun newspaper: "It just didn’t work out. They didn’t connect with the audience so bosses have decided to make a swift change. They’re on the hunt to replace them."
However, getting the chop isn’t a huge blow to Sarah as she’s planning to travel the world instead.
She said: "Being part of ‘Dragons’ Den’ has been one of the best experiences of my life.
"At the end of last year my husband Michael [her husband] and I decided to finally put into action our long-held dream to spend a year travelling the world with our young children. Sadly this means that I’ve had to step down from my role as a Dragon. It’s been a great privilege to be part of such a fantastic show and I wish everyone on it continued success."
Nick added: "I have thoroughly enjoyed making ‘Dragons’ Den’ but I want to focus more on my portfolio of educational technology businesses and that would make it difficult to take on any more investments from the Den."
And while the BBC are on the hunt to replace the two dragons on the show , which first came to screens in 2005, current stalwart Touker, a fashion entrepreneur, said of the new series: "I will be doing it but there may be one or two changes. They are looking at audience response and who they connect with. Let’s say Peter and Deborah are not going anywhere and neither am I. I have to be diplomatic. The BBC have their way of finding out which dragons the public like."
Dragon’s Den axes Sarah Willingham and Nick Jenkins
