Who Is Joe Wicks? Meet Dragons’ Den’s Guest Dragon
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51 mins ago
The fitness guru has a new gig
If you tuned into Dragons’ Den last night you might have noticed a new face on the panel. Joining long-standing dragons including Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones this series is fitness guru Joe Wicks, widely known by his social media moniker The Body Coach. Wicks’ has spent the past decade building a wellness empire, complete with a string of cookbooks, workout plans, kitchenware and a huge online following. But does he have what it takes to be a dragon?
Who Is Joe Wicks?
Joe Wicks is a British fitness coach, social media personality and cookbook author with ten years of experience in the wellbeing industry under his belt. After securing his fitness qualifications, he began his career by running early morning bootcamps in Richmond – which often, no-one would turn up to. That didn’t hold him back though: Wicks persevered and eventually made a name for himself online as The Body Coach, where his 15-second #Leanin15 recipes quickly gained a cult following. He became known for his friendly demeanor and achievable, inclusive approach to health and fitness, and since then he has amassed over four million followers on Instagram.
In 2015, Wicks went on to publish his first cookbook, Lean in 15. He also shared an abundance of workouts on YouTube, and created the 90 Day Plan, a personalised fitness programme featuring tailored workouts and meals – which is now available in app form.
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Over the years he has also starred in a number of TV shows, making regular appearances on Saturday Kitchen and This Morning, as well as fronting eponymous segments for Channel 4 including Joe Wicks: The Body Coach.
During the pandemic, Wicks’ fame grew even more after he became the nation’s PE teacher, live streaming free daily workouts, designed to get families exercising together in the mornings. Within the first week, over 15 million people had tuned in – a number which only grew as lockdown continued.
Reflecting on what he’d achieved in 2023, Wicks said: ‘11 years ago this year I was handing out flyers at my local train station to try and get people to come along to my bootcamp in the park. Often not a single person would turn up, but I kept coming back every morning, rain or shine, and very slowly it started to build and grow.
‘I never could have imagined the journey I was about to go on, and that 11 years later so many people would have tried one of my workouts or cooked one of my recipes. Remember, whatever your goals are, work hard and never give up.’
Wicks also has four children with his wife Rosie, named Indie, Marley, Leni and Dusty, and he shares snaps of their family life on Instagram.
Is Joe Wicks A New Dragon?
Joe Wicks has joined Dragons’ Den as a guest dragon for series 22, which debuted last night (9 January 2025). ‘I felt really honoured that I was even asked,’ he said. ‘I thought it would be a really great experience to hopefully help another entrepreneur on their journey and achieve their dreams. I get a lot of joy from helping others and seeing other people succeed so I thought it would be a really wonderful opportunity to back someone and see another person live out their dream.’
BBC Studios
During the first episode, we saw Wicks moved by the story of a hopeful entrepreneur who has lost everything. Joseph from Liverpool told the dragons he had sold his house to fund his business, Body XCore, centred around wearable gym fitness equipment that can be easily carried around. Wicks went on to reveal he was keen to invest, saying: ‘You are my kind of guy and this is my kind of product.’
Wicks is joined by fellow guest dragon Trinny Woodall, CEO of digital-first beauty brand, Trinny London, who rose to fame presenting noughties hit What Not to Wear alongside co-host Susannah Constantine.
The other dragons for the new series of Dragons’ Den are:
- Deborah Meaden
- Peter Jones
- Steven Bartlett
- Touker Suleyman
- Sara Davies
When Is Dragons’ Den On TV?
The first episode of series 22 of Dragons’ Den aired on BBC One on 9 January 2025, with episodes dropping weekly on Thursday evenings. You can also catch up on BBC iPlayer.
