Dragon’s Den in snake oil row over ‘ear seeds’ contestant it asked to apply
AN ENTREPRENEUR who appeared on Dragons’ Den and was accused of making unfounded health claims for her “ear seeds” business has said the BBC urged her to apply for the show.
Giselle Boxer pitched her “beauty and wellness” concept to the Dragons on the BBC One series, claiming that ear seeds – beads that stick on to the ear – had aided her recovery from myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome. All six investors, including “guest Dragon” Gary Neville, offered to back Ms Boxer’s business, but the charity Action for ME criticised the programme for “promoting misleading information” and allowing Ms Boxer to make “unevidenced claims” about the efficacy of ear seeds.
Ms Boxer has defended herself, saying: “Funnily enough, they [the BBC] contacted me and I received an email from a researcher there and I initially thought it was a spam email ... We went through the different stages of the application process and there was so much due diligence and they really looked into every part of my business before I went in to pitch.”
The BBC said researchers commonly approached entrepreneurs, rather than relying on applications. According to the Daily Mirror, Ms Boxer said she had “never said the ear seeds are a cure” but they were part of healing approaches that supported her recovery.
Appearing on the programme earlier this month, Ms Boxer told the Dragons: “Four years ago I was diagnosed with ME. I went from working in a top advertising agency with a busy social life and exercising regularly to being mostly housebound, unable to walk for more than five minutes without having to get back into bed ... I was told by doctors that I would never recover, work again or have children. I went on a personal healing journey using diet, acupuncture, Chinese herbs and ear seeds. Using this combination, I believe, aided my recovery within 12 months.”
Ms Boxer, who now has a young daughter, claimed the seeds “send signals to the brain and body to relax the nervous system, release endorphins and naturally release pain”.
Dr Charles Shepherd, an ME Association adviser, said in a letter to the BBC: “There appears to have been a serious error of judgment in the way in which
Dragons’ Den failed to carry out necessary background checks on the ethics of this product and went ahead to provide what was basically an uncritical promotion of an unproven medical product.”
The Dragons described the product as “brilliant”, with Sara Davies saying she used ear seeds regularly. Ms Boxer chose Steven Bartlett as her investor. Last week, his brother, Jason, was appointed as director of her company.
A BBC spokesman said: “Dragons’ Den features products from entrepreneurs and is not an endorsement of them. [It] shows real businesses pitching to investors to lift the lid on what happens in the business world. This episode features an entrepreneur sharing their own, personal experience that led to a business creation.”
‘[The BBC] really looked into every part of my business before I went in to pitch’