Deborah Meaden joined the investor panel of the British TV programme Dragon's Den in 2006.
Meaden is an English businesswoman and investor who became one of the programme’s best-known Dragons. She entered the panel after the first series and became recognised for direct questioning, commercial experience and interest in consumer businesses.
Her business background includes work in leisure and hospitality. Before becoming a television investor, she was involved in the family business Weststar Holidays, which operated holiday parks. That experience helped shape her reputation as a practical evaluator of business proposals.
The year 2006 is sometimes confused with 2005, the year the British programme first aired. Meaden was not part of the original launch-year panel; she joined during the programme’s early development and then became a long-serving Dragon.