A familiar face made a return to Dragons’ Den last night (Sunday, September 1st), as Theo Paphitis stepped in for Touker Suleyman, who was under the weather.
But that wasn’t the only thing familiar about the show, as an entrepreneur entered the Den, who has already made his name in the health care game with one of the nation’s most trusted and recognised fitness brands.
Ben Smith pitched his weight loss app idea and wowed with his own physical transformation. But the news that he was the co-founder of The Body Coach, one of the fastest growing online fitness and health care brands of all time was what really piqued the Dragons’ interest.
Here’s the story of Ben’s involvement with The Body Coach, plus more about his solo venture with the Fine Diet Plan weight loss app and where the app is now post-Den!
Screenshot: Dragons’ Den S17 E4 – iPlayer
Ben Smith and The Body Coach
In 2014, Benjamin Smith (37) from Wrexham co-founded The Body Coach Online Nutrition with his pal, and face of the company, Joe Wicks.
The Body Coach is one of the nation’s most trusted weight loss and it has made a star of Joe Wicks. So, when Ben ventured solo there was hope he would repeat this success with his weight loss app.
Ben sold his shares in The Body Coach for a mega £1.5 million and has invested a third of that into his own weight loss app.
It is unclear what terms Ben left The Body Coach on, but as he does not follow Joe on Instagram (and Joe does not follow the Fine Dieting Insta) it would appear that he’s trying to distance himself from the company. Probably as they’re now competitors!
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Ben’s amazing ten stone transformation
Ben’s own weight loss journey began back in October 2016 after his wife, Cara, fell ill with lipoedema. Lipoedema is an unusual build-up of fat cells in the skin, which requires serious surgery.
Over the course of six months, Ben managed to lose a crazy ten stone. This was largely thanks to changing his diet and mentality around eating. In the Den, Ben admitted he had eating disorders largely centred on emotional eating.
He was approaching 22 stone before he began his physical transformation.
Speaking about how his journey has helped him create the app, Ben said: “What I have now really really will add value to people’s lives and I just want to spread that message.”
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Screenshot: Dragons’ Den S17 E4 – iPlayer
Is the Fine Diet app running?
Yes!
Ben began the app process in October 2017 and has been developing it and perfecting it since then. He’s invested millions in getting the business off the ground and now it’s fully off the ground.
Although Ben had the previous experience and pay off to back his business brain in the Den, he only secured the interest from two Dragons: Sara and Theo.
Theo invested the £70,000 Ben was after in return for a 25% stake in the business.
You can download the weight loss app on Google Play or App Store now.
It costs either £7.49 per month or £19.99 for three months. This is less than the original sale price in the Den of £14.99 per month.
But is the diet app any good?
Peter Jones was so sceptical of the app that he said “I think you might have wasted half a million pounds” investing in it. But contrary to all of the Dragons’ belief that the app was unclear and would not draw in customers, it has great reviews!
The App Store is filled with five-star reviews on the Fine Diet app. People commenting that it has “changed their life” and that it is the “best diet ever” show that it is a real hit with users.
As with any popular app, there are some less favourable reviews about the technical side of the app. But it holds a strong 4.5 rating already.
We’re not sure if Ben’s app will immediately blow The Body Coach out of the water but things are definitely looking good for the business.
Check out the Fine Diet website for more about the weight loss app.
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Screenshot: Fine Dieting website
WATCH DRAGONS’ DEN SERIES 17 SUNDAYS AT 8 PM ON BBC TWO
https://www.realitytitbit.com/bbc/dragons-den/hanna-sillitoe-lands-dragons-den-dream-team-how-to-buy-her-skincare-line
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