Which Dragon was the first woman to join the original UK panel of Dragon's Den?

Rachel Elnaugh was the first woman to join the original UK panel of Dragon's Den.

Elnaugh appeared among the programme's original Dragons when the British version launched in 2005. She was already known as the founder of Red Letter Days, an experience-gift company established in the 1990s.

Her place in the panel's history is distinct from that of later female Dragons. Deborah Meaden joined in the second series, while Kelly Hoppen and Sara Davies arrived much later. Because Meaden became the programme's longest-running female investor, viewers sometimes incorrectly identify her as the first woman on the panel.

Elnaugh's television tenure was brief compared with some later Dragons, but her role remains historically significant. The programme's initial panel helped define the British adaptation, and her business background gave the early series a female investor before the panel expanded its representation.