Dragons’ Den star turned down Strictly after ‘virtually dying’ in health scare
Dragons’ Den star Touker Suleyman has revealed he turned down a stint on Strictly Come Dancing after a health scare and being told he had just hours to live.
The businessman, 71, is returning to the entrepreneurial competition alongside Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones, Steven Bartlett and Sara Davies, while Joe Wicks and Trinny Woodall join as guest investors.
Deborah, 65, appeared on Strictly in 2013 alongside Robin Windsor, while Sara, 40, competed in 2021 with Aljaz Skorjanec.
And now Touker has revealed he almost followed in their footsteps, but declined the offer after an illness which left him with ’24 hours to live’.
Ahead of the new series of Dragons’ Den airing, Touker – who has starred as a Dragon since 2015 – said: ‘I was asked last year, and I said I’m not fit because I was very ill a few years ago. So I declined the offer this year.’
He went on to Metro and other press: ‘I love dancing. But I just know that first of all time is valuable to me, and I have businesses to run.’
Touker opened up about his health struggles last year on Dragons’ Den, saying:‘I had a bad illness a few years ago so I’m on blood thinners, hydrocortisone, cholesterol, you name it I take it.’
‘But I’m healthy thank god,’ he added.
In 2019, Touker was absent from filming some of the episodes for the 17th series of Dragons’ Den, with former Dragon Theo Paphitis stepping in.
He’d had to withdraw from the show temporarily after being diagnosed with pneumonia, leaving him in a hospital bed for several days.
In a statement at the time, he said: ‘I’m grateful that my good friend Theo was able to step into the Den to keep my seat warm while I had some time off.
‘I can’t wait to see him back in action and keeping the other Dragons on their toes, but don’t worry, I wasn’t gone for long!’
He later revealed he had been given ’24 hours to live’ and ‘virtually died’, telling The Telegraph: ‘In 2019 I had pneumonia and was given 24 hours to live. That was in April. In August I had another illness and was in intensive care and virtually died.
‘So I have learnt the value of health. You cannot buy good health.
‘That’s where you put things into focus and you realise that it’s not all about money. It’s about looking after your health, looking after your family, looking after your friends. That’s what’s important.’
Meanwhile, his co-star Steven revealed his own reasons for declining Strictly.
The 32-year-old podcast host told us: ‘I think to do Strictly, you probably should enjoy and have an interest in dancing and I just don’t, that’s why I do Soccer Aid instead. That’s like my version of Strictly… I love football.’
Their guest Dragon Joe also firmly rejected a stint on Strictly, despite enjoying his time on the reality competition as an investor.
‘So I’m going to do strictly, Big Brother, SAS, The Jump… no I’m joking,’ he laughed in an interview with Metro and other press.
‘I was talking about the Strictly thing because every year there’s an article that runs saying, “Joe Wicks is doing Strictly”.
‘It’s my worst fear, because I’m not a great dancer, and I just don’t think I’d be confident.
‘I think it’d be really tough so I’m not going to do any more reality shows, but you know, in the future, who knows?’
Dragons’ Den returns to BBC One and iPlayer at 8pm on Thursday, January 9.
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