Dragons’ Den fans wince as Deborah Meaden grills ‘petrified’ candidate in ‘uneasy’ pitch – but she gets the last laugh

DRAGONS’ Den fans were left shuddering as they watched Deborah Meaden dish out some rather choice words for a self-confessed ‘petrified’ contestant.

The moment came during last night’s edition of the BBC One contest where Caroline Sims was pitching in the hopes of winning a life-changing investment into her plant-based supplements business.

Caroline was seeking to gain a £60,000 investment into her business named Botanycl in exchange for a 10% stake in the company.

Before entering the dreaded lift, Caroline insisted she was “really nervous” and it later transpired that she had even asked show bosses if she could have a chair placed in the den in case she needed to take a seat during her pitch.

Despite expressing serious concerns over her nerves, the business hopeful managed to get through her pitch without any problems at all.

Although for Caroline, it was about to get a lot more difficult as the questions from the business titans rolled in.

Deborah Meaden was quick to express her thoughts on the budding business but was met with critics on social media over her discourse with Caroline.

As she took a closer look at the products in her hand, Deborah sounded somewhat puzzled as she muttered “Erm,” whilst continuing to look deeply at the jar of supplements.

She then said to Caroline: “This makes me feel uneasy.

“You have a big issue making this product stand out from all of the others.”

Appearing to not offer up any further explanations, Deborah stunned fans and her fellow business experts as she said: “So, I’m not going to be your champion, and I’m out.”

The moment caused a stir online as fans called out Deborah for her abruptness.

One fan wrote online: “Wow, bit harsh Deborah.”

As another viewer wrote: “Deborah has spotted a problem.”

Many fans expressed their sympathy to nervous Caroline as one said: “I feel so sorry for Caroline right now.”

However, despite Deborah not being a fan of what Caroline had to offer it seemed that it had perked the interest of Peter Jones who decided to make the entrepreneur an offer.

Peter offered up all of the desired cash but told Caroline he would be seeking 25% in exchange for it.

He told her: “I can open any door for any retailer in the world for you.”

This prompted a raft of Dragons’ with Sara Davies and Steven Bartlett also making plays for the company.

Steven and Sara both offered the full amount of money with Steven seeking 20% and Sara just 15%.

With a flurry of offers to mull over, Caroline eventually sought out both Peter and Steven for a collaborative offer with them both gaining an impressive 12.5% each.

In another win for the business hopeful, Caroline also got them to agree to dropping down to just 10% each if they made their money back within the first 18 months of the partnership.

Upon leaving the den, Caroline said: “I did not expect four out of the five dragons.”