In Dragon's Den, which investor became the first woman to join the regular UK panel?

Rachel Elnaugh was the first woman to join the regular UK Dragon's Den investor panel.

Elnaugh is an entrepreneur who founded Red Letter Days, a company selling experience gifts. She joined the original panel when the BBC programme launched in 2005, making her the first female dragon in the British version.

She left the programme after its first series and was succeeded by Deborah Meaden, who became one of the show’s most recognisable long-term investors. That change is the main reason the two women are sometimes confused in questions about the panel’s history.

The distinction is chronological: Elnaugh was the first woman on the regular UK panel, while Meaden joined later and remained strongly associated with the programme. Later female investors included Kelly Hoppen and Sara Davies, but neither was the first.