Woo dragons with a winning idea ... and a diet

Sir Bob Jones

A knight who dislikes fat women, a former bankrupt and a reality television queen are to star in a local version of Dragon's Den - the show where people with ideas but no money try to woo it out of the rich.

Sir Bob Jones once scoffed at the new show, but he was there with the other dragons revealed on TV One's Close Up last night. The line-up includes Slingshot founder Annette Presley, publisher Barry Colman and property developer Paul Webb. Despite being declared bankrupt in 2000 after the failure of aviation venture CityJet, Mr Webb is now worth $20 million.

The other dragon is Julie Christie, founder and CEO of Eyeworks Touchdown, which is producing the series to screen this year. On Close Up, Sir Bob - a Luddite who refuses to use a cellphone - laid out the laws under which he would part with any of his $200 million.

He would not invest in any technology idea - or anybody with bad grammar, and "I would not go with a bearded character".

Nor would he consider a "fat woman" or anybody with sunglasses on top of their head. The BBC developed Dragon's Den in 2003. The fortunes of the New Zealand dragons are mere trifles compared with their British counterparts, who are worth up to $600 million.

Panel elder Sir Bob said his time left on the planet was limited, so he wanted some immediate gratification out of his ventures.

Both Mr Webb - the youngest on the panel at 32 - and Ms Christie said it was about doing business and making worthwhile investments.

However, Mr Colman wanted enjoyment. "We are not here to be nasty to people. We are only here to have some fun." And then the caveat: "But we are not particularly patient if you've got silly people and silly ideas."

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