Theo Paphitis has revealed his Dragons’ Den seat barely had time to get cold after he left the show, because Deborah Meaden jumped straight into it.

Former investor on the programme Theo decided to quit in 2012, but, according to The Sun, he said that he wasn’t missed for long as Deborah was quick to take his central place in the line-up of business brains who would-be entrepreneurs present their ideas to.

He said: “I had eight amazing years, but I’m the kind of person who wants to do something fresh, and it was time for somebody else to take my seat and somebody else to have fun.

Dragons' Den
Deborah Meaden now sits in the centre seat of the investor line-up for Dragons’ Den (BBC)

“What I didn’t expect is Deborah to jump into it straight away. She took control. As she always does.”

Theo said of Deborah, who had been his colleague in the Den since 2006: “She rung me up and said, ‘Guess who’s got your seat? I have!’ It couldn’t have gone to a better place.”

Business tycoon Theo added that he still tuned in to the BBC show whenever he could and thought it was “still great”.