Dragons’ Den Deborah Meaden's very private marriage - and one thing she will never do at home

Deborah Meaden has been joined to her hubby Paul for much than 3 decades and the Dragons' Den prima has called getting joined "the champion thing" she ever did

Deborah Meaden has carved retired an highly palmy vocation successful the satellite of concern and distant from the spotlight there’s 1 antheral who has cheered her connected each measurement of the mode - her husband.

Having joined Dragons’ Den backmost successful 2006, Deborah is 1 of the longest-serving Dragons connected the amusement and has go a staple connected our TV screens. During her clip connected the BBC show, the 65-year-old has invested successful a full big of businesses from speedy drying formation towels to a modern manner brand.

But portion she is known for supporting businesses arsenic portion of her relation successful the Den, distant from the cameras she is supported by her hubby Paul. The brace met backmost successful astir 1985 erstwhile helium was moving astatine her household concern Weststar Holidays.

Sadly the mates went their abstracted ways, though their divided proved to beryllium short-lived aft Deborah returned from a travel to Venezuela. After returning to London, the brace rekindled their narration and aboriginal joined successful 1993.

In an interrogation with The Guardian, the TV property gushed implicit her husband. As she described Paul, she called him “the astir competent antheral successful the world”. She besides opened up connected their narration and however they ended up getting married.

“It conscionable works. Listen, everybody goes done ups and downs. But determination was ne'er a constituent astatine which… no, that’s not true. We divided up earlier we got married. He wanted to get joined and I perfectly didn’t. We utilized to person those circular arguments, him saying, ‘but wherefore won’t you get married?’,” she explained.

“And maine saying, ‘what’s the point, we’re gonna enactment unneurotic for the remainder of our lives?’– ‘if that’s close past Deborah, wherefore don’t we conscionable get married?’ You know, we’d spell circular and circular successful circles. I inactive accidental to this day, helium made me, helium forced me. I was virtually lasting determination extracurricular the church, saying, ‘I’m doing this for Paul’. He knows this! But I besides say, and helium knows this, too, that it’s the champion happening I ever did.”

More than 3 decades since tying the knot, Paul inactive manages to astonishment Deborah with romanticist gestures. After she appeared connected Strictly Come Dancing successful 2013, Paul took it upon himself to person concealed dancing lessons truthful they could deed the ballroom together.

“When I was doing Strictly, Paul could spot however overmuch I loved dancing. I loved doing Strictly. He secretly took dancing lessons. I’d been truthful mean to him for 30 years, truthful horrible to him, and past helium goes and does that,” she said connected The Graham Norton Show successful 2021.

“As a effect of that helium grew to emotion dancing, we some emotion dancing, we went disconnected to Buenos Aires to larn Argentine Tango and present we some creation for 4 hours a week. It’s a beauteous happening due to the fact that we each person engaged lives. Just being look to look with your spouse for 4 hours of your week.”

Elsewhere, the Dragons’ Den prima besides gave fans a peek wrong her location beingness successful 2011 aft revealing the 1 happening doesn’t do. “I hatred cleaning truthful arsenic a pupil I utilized to enactment successful a barroom astatine nighttime successful bid to wage idiosyncratic to cleanable my flat. I’ve ne'er told anyone that,” she told The Telegraph.

“I inactive don’t bash immoderate home chores; my hubby Paul is successful charge. It sounds terrible, doesn’t it?”

Meanwhile Deborah, who has cats, horses, sheep, rescue dogs, ducks and geese, has antecedently opened up astir her emotion for animals. “There’s thing successful maine that thinks, if I can, ‘I’ll springiness these guys a bully life’,” she told The Daily Mail successful 2008.

“We've got 2 dogs, too, but they're decidedly Paul's. I'm not a canine person. They necessitate excessively overmuch attention. I don't similar thing with excessively overmuch dependency. Children are precise dependent, which is astir apt wherefore we ne'er had them.”