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Earlier this month, Dragons’ Den star Touker Suleyman announced he was ‘retiring’ after 10 years in the den to the shock of viewers.
In his retirement announcement, Touker had said that ‘all great institutions must evolve’ and that it’s time for ‘new blood’ to take his seat in the den.
Turns out his TV exit does not mean he’s hanging up his business hat for good, as he’s now clarified he’s actually hoping to focus on his own brands.
‘Hello everyone,’ he began in a new video posted to his social media account. ‘You’ve probably heard I’m retiring.
‘I’m not retiring from business, but I’m retiring from the den. First thing I want to do is thank you all for your very kind and loving messages to me’.
The 72-year-old star went on to thank the BBC, calling it a ‘real privilege and honour’ to have been part of the show for 10 years.
He thanked his fellow Dragons – currently made up of Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden and Steven Bartlett, plus special guests – as well as the entrepreneurs.
‘It’s a journey,’ Touker continued, ‘The most important thing I wanna say, this is not the end of the journey for me.
‘Lots of new, exciting things, I’ll be now focused more on my own existing businesses. And there’s a few new businesses on the horizon’.
The business giant is best known as the owner of British menswear brand, Hawes & Curtis, and joined the Den in Series 13.
As well as Hawes & Curtis, Touker owns the fashion brand Ghost and Marks & Spencers under his umbrella company, Low Profile Group.
He teased: ‘The most exciting one for me. I own the IP of a brand called Lipstick. You might say, “What is Lipstick?” It’s what it says it is.
‘I’m launching a lipstick brand in September, which takes the best of lipstick products of all the brands, under one roof.’
Alongside his makeup endeavour, Touker is planning to start up a podcast to better communicate with young entrepreneurs and start-ups, who he hopes to mentor.
‘I think the UK have got some great entrepreneurs and I want to help them on their journey so they don’t make the same mistakes I’ve made in the past’, he said.
Concluding the video, Touker joked that even if he’s approaching 73, he’s ‘not done yet’.