To think Deborah Meaden on Strictly is an insult to women in business

I think Jess's kind of path to being a successful business person could well be paved with nervous breakdowns!

Did n' t those ride-on kids' wheelie-luggage carriers that you see at airports start out by being turned down by Dragons' Den? Don't always get it right do they?

Didn't Alan Sugar once send a winning team on The Apprentice for ballroom dancing lessons?

#heknowsathingortwo

P.S. am learning Ballroom and Latin, have been doing so for last 11 months. I'm 58 with dodgy legs and a few problems 'down below' but its a fantastic feeling when, after weeks of trying to get a sequence in the Quick step Waltz or Rumba right, I eventually get it and we manage to do the whole thing smoothly and in time. Its hard work, bits hurt and my brain is not as good as it used be but its hard to beat as a way of challenging oneself and having fun.
At the moment we are wrestling with the Fox Trot which, although it looks simple is one of the most difficult to get right......I get quite nervy before our sessions but afterword....wow its a great feeling.

No problem with anyone having fun or learning to dance. Respect greatnan for building up a successful business.
Does nobody else think this is a weird thing for DM to choose to do with her time?

I guess they must have show-bizzy traits to their personalities to want to go on television at all. I suppose they are just the kind of people to jump at the chance of doing Strictly.

I watch SCD and DD occasionally. I am quite bemused that DM taking part is even worth a thread that runs to 2 pages. It's not weird at all, she can do whatever she wants, actually, and she wants to do Strictly. Good for her.

Perhaps after years of building up her business empire she just felt like a change and a bit of fun? Possibly she is now able to employ good people to manage some of her work.
I love ballroom dancing - when I was a teenager most of us had lessons every Saturday morning above Burtons. I quite enjoy disco dancing but there is something really special about dancing with a really proficient partner.

No, Jess, I don't think it's specially weird. She is a very successful woman who nowadays seems to have plenty of leisure - presumably managing some of her businesses at arms length. She is used to setting herself challenges and meeting them. No doubt this is another challenge and she will do her utmost to meet it.

I watched the first SCD and haven't seen it until last night when I watched for 20 minutes before turning over to the Last Night of the Proms. Heavens, it's changed over the years - and not for the better. Time to call a halt I think. Why do programmers persist in continuing something that was reasonably good until it turns into boring, luvvy duvvy, past it rubbish; and as for that Bruce Forsyth - what can I say? Time for him to go into early-bed, slippers and cocoa-land I think . Never watched Dragons Den so haven't a clue who Deborah Meaden is.

It's more popular than ever, Gally. It's good Family viewing for Saturday night and I doubt it will be axed while the ratings are so high.

Agree about Brucie though

And here's someone I'd love to see on Strictly

merlot - good idea. Taste of her own poison, perhaps?

Isn't SCD in aid of Children in Need still? In which case DM is doing some good, having fun and looking human. Didn't think she was very good though

And, as for Brucie

I can't bear to watch Strictly until the contestants dancing proper gets underway. The first few shows are trashy.

Not sure about all this stereotyping and compartmentalising - why shouldn't DM do strictly? Did I miss the rule that business people (presumably it would apply to men as well) are not to dance or wear sequins? Does this mean that a dancer should not branch out and start their own business?

Would love to see Liz Jones do it Perhaps someone will tell her that Murder on the Dance Floor was not Sophie Ellis Bexter's only hit record. I can't remember the title but she did keep Victoria Beckham of the number one spot one summer.

I think the ratings will go through the roof if Liz Jones goes on Strictly and Brucie is replaced by Claire Balding.

Of all the people that appear in these programmes I think her participation in this has surprised me the most. I don't watch Dragons Den other than catching the odd repeat but wouldn't have been surprised at the lady with the long dark hair being on Strictly [which I also don't watch but will have to watch it now].

If Brucie goes - and it has to happen sooner rather than later - I would put my money on Graham Norton since he does most other shows on BBC.

I nominate Bradley Walsh!

Hello tegan nice to hear from you. I don't watch it either these days as it is a bit of a cringe factor. When watching strictly have to record it and wind past the BF bits to prevent DH from whimpering.
That is a valid point Deeda but somehow I can't make it sit with me. Isn't she stereotyping herself? (bitch manager followed by light hearted celeb who wants to be in the tabloids). The whole thing is not real and that is what I think lets down the women who have to go to work and do a good job managing things every day. If there were loads of positive images of women in positions of responsibility in business, on the TV it would not matter a jot, but there are not are there? Business generally is presented negatively and women managers, on the rare occasions they appear, very often like "the devil wears prada" etc

I'm with you now, jess, but I think the emphasis on good role modelling should be on ordinary women, not super successful ones. Trouble is, ordinariness isn't so good as 'entertainment'. I reckon that's the bottom line.

I agree that women in business are either ignored or presented in a negative light - but surely DM's entry into SCD is one way of showing her human side? I have no idea what kind of manager she is - she does appear rather Thatcherish on Dragon's Den.

Go Deborah, all power to your elbow. I think its great that she is such a good sport, she isn't letting women down or her business acumen, she is just rising to a great challenge, lets all see how it works out for her. I'll bet she will be good.

Perhaps Jess is suggesting that it's difficult to imagine a very successful businessman taking part in Strictly. I suppose you could argue that that's because they have too inflated a sense of their own importance to participate in something that may undermine the "all powerful" aura that they cultivate on Dragon's Den.

You could say that everybody has their more frivolous side and she's to be applauded for not taking herself too seriously and demonstrating that.

On the other hand, you could also argue that DM is encouraging another stereotype - that her "dragonlike" exterior merely hides the fact that the female of the species is, underneath it all, just a fluffy little lady playing at being a tough businessperson.