I had to quit Dragons’ Den for the sake of my family – I have no regrets, insists Sarah Willingham
DRAGONS’ Den’s Sarah Willingham has revealed she quit the hit show for the sake of her family – and has no regrets.
Sarah, 49, joined the Den for the 13th series in 2015, and returned for the 14th a year later.
However, she quit the show after that to embark on a round the world trip with her husband and four children instead.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Sarah explained: “It’s by miles the single best thing I’ve ever done in my life… and I have absolutely no regrets.
“In a different world I would have stayed [on the show] much longer, it was nothing about Dragons’ Den.
“It was just that we had spent two years as a family planning to take the children out of school and travel round the world.
“We were supposed to do it the year before, but we [had already] put it off for a year so I could do a second series.”
Sarah was tempted to do a third, but she admitted: “I just couldn’t do it to my family or to myself if I’m honest.”
The family travelled all over during that two year period, starting in Canada before heading through the USA and down to Chile, Argentina and Patagonia.
They then continued West to Australia and then on to south-east Asia and places including Indonesia and Thailand.
Sarah was replaced on Dragons’ Den by Jenny Campbell for two series before current Dragon Sara Davies replaced her.
The line-up includes original Dragon Peter Jones, as well as Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman and newest recruit, Steven Bartlett.
Dragons’ Den airs Thursdays at 8pm on BBC One and is available on BBC iPlayer.