I can finally talk about it – we’re going to be on Dragons’ Den!
The episode was filmed back in June, and it’s been a real challenge keeping it to myself. I’m still not allowed to tell you what happens – you’ll have to watch BBC TWO at 8pm on Sunday 23 December to find that out – but I can tell you about the exciting and totally surreal experience of filming it.
My youngest child, Cora, was only four-months-old at the time and I was still on maternity leave, so I took the day of recording as one of my ‘keeping in touch’ days. This meant a trip for the entire family to Manchester, and roping my dad in for a day out at the Science Museum with Chris (my husband and cofounder) and Charlie (our two-year-old). That meant Chris could pop in with Cora every three hours so I could feed her. It was quite an experience getting my hair and make-up done all glam and prepping for the TV cameras, then taking a quick break to breastfeed!
Filming was so bizarre, and so much fun, standing in the places you know so well from TV and looking into the faces of people you normally only see in a box in your living room. I’ll be honest, it was nerve-wracking. Everyone on the set is lovely, but the dragons are intimidating and they certainly gave me a good grilling. It was a major adrenaline rush and I’ve not experienced anything like it before. What I enjoyed most of all, though, was getting to talk about the business I feel so passionately about, how much we’ve achieved and our aims for the future. It made me so proud.
Apparently I was in the den for more than an hour, but the time absolutely flew by. Emerging out into the real world again at the end of the day was a bit disorientating. Once the adrenaline wore off, I was shattered, so we travelled straight over to Bishop Monkton (where I grew up and my parents still live), swiftly putting the kids to bed before passing out ourselves.
It all feels like a crazy dream now – I’m looking forward to watching the episode on Sunday just to prove to myself that it actually happened!
I’d love to know what you think about the episode – you can tell me in the comments, or we’re on Facebook and Instagram. I’ll post my reflections on the show once it’s aired (it will be the first time I’ve seen it) so look out for that. Fingers crossed I come across OK in the edit!