Dragon Duncan puts on the Ritz in defiance of bug

DUNCAN Bannatyne refuses to let a global health crisis get in the way of his glamorous social life. The former Dragons’ Den star, 71, defied coronavirus fears at the weekend by taking his wife, Nigora, out for dinner at the Ritz in London for her 40th birthday.

‘We had a big bash planned in Marrakesh which had to be cancelled. We had 100 people coming but then Morocco closed its borders,’ Duncan tells me.

The couple, who wed three years ago, had the smallest gathering with only Phones4U founder John Caudwell, 67, and his 35-year-old girlfriend, Lithuanian cyclist Modesta Vzesniauskaite.

Bannatyne likes a good party. For his 70th birthday he hosted a Roman-themed bash in Barbados, sporting a toga.

But the Scot, who is reportedly worth £280 million, admits his relationship with Nigora — whom he met in 2015 when she worked as a dental hygienist in Harley Street — is not immune to the coronavirus, which could see them spend more time apart. Speaking about the new proposals of over-70s having to self-isolate in the UK, he adds: ‘If we have to do it, we have to do it. I think we should listen to the Chief Medical Officer.

‘That’s what I’ll do. It will affect us and everybody, of any age. If I self-isolate she couldn’t stay in the same room as me — that would be ridiculous.

‘It’s not self-isolating if she’s in the room with me. Of course I would be happy for her to continue doing things — going out with friends and enjoying herself.’

The twice-divorced father of six admits, however, that he’s running low on ideas of how to keep himself occupied in the absence of his wife.

‘What can you do in a room on your own for three months or whatever?

‘I’ll binge on Netflix and do two hours a night in my room on the gym equipment every day.’