It faced fierce backlash over promoting an entrepreneur’s ‘snake oil’ ear seeds product she claimed could ‘cure’ ME earlier in the series.
Yet Dragons’ Den doesn’t appear to have learnt its lesson – after last night’s episode featured a British couple looking for a £50,000 investment for their ‘libido-boosting’ supplement business.
Wesley Pierce and his fiancée Lottie arrived in the Den eager to secure partnerships with either Steven Bartlett, Sara Davies, Touker Suleyman, Peter Jones or Deborah Meaden, and offered a ten per cent stake in their firm in return for the investment.
Introducing Wiggy, Wesley explained how during the anxiety-inducing pandemic lockdowns, the couple’s relationship had suffered in the bedroom.
After talking to friends and discovering they weren’t alone with their problem, the duo decided to make drinkable supplements to improve people’s sex drive. They hired a local company to create the vitamin sachets, priced at £34.95 for 28.
However, after questioning the science behind the product, the Dragons were left disappointed with the lack of expert research – with even Wesley admitting that some decisions were made due to the pair’s personal preferences and that the item could just be offering its customers a ‘placebo effect’.
During the duo’s pitch, viewers could spot a health disclaimer added by the BBC, which read: ‘Always consult a medical professional before using dietary supplements if you have any health concerns.’
Meanwhile, when introducing the couple on the programme, presenter Evan Davis admitted that ‘they’ve come up with a product they claim is helping them intimately.’
Wesley – who started dating Lottie in 2018 before getting engaged within a year – began his pitch by explaining that they started their business, founded in 2022, after they ‘felt that there was a need for it, from our own personal experiences’.
‘During the Covid lockdowns, Lottie and I experienced a very high level of anxiety for the very first time,’ he admitted.
‘Spending every day together, 24/7, stuck at home, we found that it was really taking a toll in the bedroom and for the first time, we found that we were not in the mood as much as normal.
‘After talking to a few friends about this, I found out that they were experiencing exactly the same thing, which was a real light blub moment for me.
‘One evening, I turned to Lottie and said I’m going to create a supplement business to help people in the bedroom… so we started researching online to find natural ingredients to help the libido.
‘We realised that we really needed some expert help with this, so we found a local company, to create the supplement for us, from the ground up. Wiggy launched in September 2022.’
Since the launch, the business – which offers boxes of sachets tailored to men and women – has sold around 450 units and turned over £13,000 in sales, selling directly to the customer on its online website.
Peter admitted he was surprised by ‘how nice it tasted’ after trying out the drink – but after questioning how he it worked, he was warned by Wesley that it is a ‘daily supplement’ and ‘not a Viagra, it’s not an instant sex drink’.
Steven was the first to question the supplements’ scientific research, or lack thereof. He was told by Wesley that the ‘the ingredients that are in it, are thought to help balance hormones… so for us, at least, it definitely helped.’
But when he pushed for more information, asking: ‘How can you prove that it helps?’, the businessman admitted: ‘Well, I can just tell you that it helped me, and we’ve had a lot of great feedback from our customers.’
‘Have you done any sort of quantitative research or primary research?’ asked Steven, to which Wesley confessed: ”No, we’re still so early days, that we’re still finding our feet with the brand.’
He also admitted that the sachets could even be offering a ‘placebo effect’, before the ingredients were again questioned, this time by Touker, who asked: ‘What are the ingredients that have been clinically proven?’
Wesley was forced to explain that the ingredients are mainly vitamins, alongside parts that are not ‘necessarily scientifically backed’.
‘Just to be clear, we are not nutritional experts,’ admitted the businessman.
But for Touker, he insisted that was the part that had him worried. ‘If you’d come in, and said this is what I’m qualified to do, this is scientifically proven, I can back it up.
‘You’d have a bit more creditability,’ said the Dragon, before withdrawing himself from the discussions.
The couple’s admission that they’d decided on sachets over the more popular tablets or gummies option due to personal preference also left Sara declaring she wouldn’t be investing.
‘It worries me that you make business decisions on personal feelings, it should be market research,’ explained the investor, adding: ‘I worry that you’re thinking too much about you and your personal use of this.’
Deborah also refused to invest for similar reasons, while Steven also revealed he wouldn’t be supporting the business.
‘I would actually really love to invest in this category because everything you’ve said to me today, I already know to be true,’ said The Diary of a CEO host.
‘A couple of my friends are experts in this space as well and libido issues are tearing great relationships a part, so it’s a huge issue, huge demand and it’s a space that unfortunately is becoming in greater demand every year.’
‘… Do I think this [product] is the surfboard that’s going to ride that wave coming into shore?’
He said he had questions over how they can ‘substantiate the claims you’re making, super important.’
‘So get that right and you honestly have a great business. But this isn’t a product I’m going to be investing in today so I’m going to say I’m out,’ Steven concluded.
Next up, Peter said: ‘I think the branding and what you’ve done with it is really good but having a product that doesn’t have an expert push behind it…
‘Having some sort of creditability, to know, one, that’s it’s going to be OK to be taking the product, and that two, there’s creditability in terms of medically…’
Wesley was keen to explain: ‘That’s why we used a professional manufacture to make it and design it.’
But Peter continued, adding: ‘It doesn’t give you anything that says, this is totally approved, safe to take, there’s no medical statement.’
Wesley replied: ‘Essentially it’s a food supplement, it’s vitamins and minerals, there’s nothing dodgy in it.’ But Peter insisted: ‘It’s not something I want to get behind and really push, so for that reason I’m out.’
Viewers were left unimpressed with the pitch, with one person joking on X, formerly Twitter: ‘”There’s nothing dodgy in it.” Extremely reassuring stuff in the Dragons’ Den.’
Another said: ‘I miss when Dragons’ Den didn’t have to give warnings about medical concerns because the pitches weren’t dubious in their claims.’
Earlier in the season, the programme faced backlash after one contestant claimed her controversial ‘ear seeds’ company could ‘cure’ ME.
Steve offered Giselle Boxer, from Sheffield, £50,000 for 12.5 per cent of her company Acu Seeds in an episode on the BBC earlier this year.
Ms Boxer made history as the first person ever to receive six offers on the Den for her £30 gold plated ear seeds which she said had ‘helped to heal’ her ME and helped with conditions including anxiety and insomnia – and she chose entrepreneur Steven.
His brother and business partner Jason joined the board of the company in January and in a social media post, Ms Boxer said she was ‘working closely’ with Steven as her business boomed.
But following hundreds of complaints to the BBC and to Ofcom, Jason Bartlett stepped down as a director – with documents at Companies House showing he quit on February 14.
Steven’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment at the time.
Following the backlash, Ms Boxer claimed she was recruited by Dragons’ Den producers to take part.
ME support organisations accused her of promoting ‘unfounded’ claims that her product could be a potential cure for the illness which affects at least 250,000 people in the UK.
They said there was no scientific evidence to support the use of the seeds. Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) causes extreme tiredness, sleeping problems and brain fog.
Laura Adams is a tech enthusiast residing in the UK. Her articles cover the latest technological innovations, from AI to consumer gadgets, providing readers with a glimpse into the future of technology.
