Julianne Ponan is the founder of Creative Nature Superfoods and appeared on Dragons’ Den back in 2017.
Seven years on, the entrepreneur has opened up exclusively to GB News about the cruel trolling she received after Peter Jones’ “personal and uncalled for” comments on the show.
Ponan appeared on the BBC show with her operations manager Matt Ford and introduced the Dragons to two superfood protein bars alongside a chia and cacao chocolate chip brownie mix and a chia and mulberry muffin mix.
The 35-year-old went into the Den looking for a £75,000 investment in exchange for five per cent of the business, to help scale up.
During their pitch, Ponan mentioned that whilst Ford was their operations manager, they were also in a romantic relationship.
This prompted Jones to make an “off the mark” comment, noting how Ford would get none of the company if they split up.
Julianne Ponan and her husband Matthew Ford appeared on the show back in 2017
BBC
Ponan explained that Ford had no shares in the company as she built the company on her own out of her own savings.
The comment from Jones led to some cruel trolling online towards Ponan, picking apart her looks, race and even resulted in death threats.
Speaking to GB News about the ordeal, she explained: “I get a bit nervous watching the show because it brings back some of the memories from when we were trolled afterwards.
“Peter Jones said my relationship with Matthew - who is our director, who is now my husband – ‘What happens when she leaves you?’ because he doesn’t have shares in the business and that is because I started the business and I put my savings in.
“It was a big thing that blew up on social media after when it aired.
"People were like, ‘You’re horrible’, ‘You’re the dragon lady’, ‘You should die’, all of these things, and also on race and various other attributes to my looks which isn’t the nicest of things.
Julianne admitted that she was trolled after the episode due to the comment from Peter Jones
BBC
“My other half said to me at the time just don’t read the comments. But now I can tell Peter Jones that we are happily married.
“I personally didn’t think they had anything to do with the business, it was uncalled for and it was to do with my personal relationship.”
During her time on the show, Ponan initially received an offer from Deborah Meaden of £75,000 for 25 per cent of the business.
She initially accepted the offer, but after going away and renegotiating, Ponan decided to decline the offer and go it alone.
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A Dragons' Den star has hit out at Peter Jones over his comments on the show
BBC
It seems Ponan and Ford did the right thing as the company's products are now sold in supermarkets across the country, stocked on Virgin Atlantic flights and is an ever-growing brand.
In 2020, Ponan was named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30s and went on to be awarded with an MBE for her service to business, exports, and people with allergies.
GB News has contacted the BBC who declined to comment.