Theo Paphitis turned down the chance to be on the Dragons’ Den when producers first called: “I [blew a raspberry] down the phone and said, ‘I’m not going to go on television!”, the retail tycoon admitted today.
The small business champion, who owns Ryman, Robert Dyas and Boux Avenue, eventually joined the hit BBC show in 2005, staying for eight years and becoming one of its biggest stars.
