Testing times for Dragons’ Den star Duncan Bannatyne OBE, whose rolling pitch for a knighthood looks increasingly likely to get the thumbs-down. Put briefly, the entrepreneur’s recent ex has accused him of sending her a text message enquiring: “Really? You are happy with me showing the pictures you sent me?”
This has been interpreted by some as a threat of revenge porn – but Duncan insists that couldn’t be further from the truth. To underscore the point, he took the dignified step of appearing on This Morning with his new girlfriend of three weeks, and reasoned: “You don’t feel bitter when you’re madly in love. I’m just an excited schoolboy.”
The lady in question is a young Uzbeki dental receptionist, who declares: “I’ve now read his books and I’m very impressed.”
Whether this rave review will be enough to smooth things over with the honours committee is unclear: instinct suggests Duncan may now be obliged to stump up a larger investment if he wants a piece of that action.
Still, it’s fair to say that he has had the most edifying week for a Den alumnus since his erstwhile co-star James Caan – despite knowing he was being filmed by ITV at the time – attempted to purchase a child from a destitute Pakistani family for £745. Well done, Dragons!
