Which Dragon's Den investor was one of the programme's five original Dragons in 2005?

The story behind the answer

Rachel Elnaugh was one of Dragon's Den's five original Dragons in 2005.

The original British panel consisted of Rachel Elnaugh, Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne, Theo Paphitis and Doug Richard. Elnaugh was an entrepreneur associated with the Red Letter Days experience-gift business and brought retail and consumer-business experience to the panel.

She appeared in the first two series before leaving the programme. Deborah Meaden subsequently joined the regular lineup in the third series, so Meaden is not an original Dragon even though she became one of the show's most familiar investors.

The original panel is a useful way to separate the programme's launch-era investors from later additions. The lineup changed as the series developed, but Elnaugh's place in the first panel is fixed by the 2005 launch and the early series credits.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026

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