When we catch up with a rather out-of-breath Sara Davies to chat about her life, work and everything in between, we very quickly get an insight into her lifestyle as a busy working mum. The Dragons’ Den star, 40, who joined the series in 2019 as its youngest ever female investor, has just walked off stage after interviewing Lisa Nandy, the UK’s secretary of state for culture, media and sport, at the government-hosted Creative Industries Growth Summit in Gateshead.

After our chat she will then drive home to Teesside where she lives with her husband, Simon, and their two boys. Her day started early too, she tells us, as she’s “been up since 5am on a big business negotiation for Crafter’s Companion in China”. We’re exhausted just listening to the day’s to-do list, so where on earth does she find the drive? “My dad instilled in me that as long as you genuinely love what you do, you don’t work a day in your life, and that’s honestly how I feel,” she says.

“I’m all about energy exchange, and as much as it’s taken a load of fuel out of my tank to get the emotional energy to deliver that [interview], because of the energy I felt in that room, I feel like I’ve actually just had a hose pipe plugged into me pumping petrol in.” The other major inspiration is her other half Simon, who she’s been with since she was 15. The couple married in 2007 and have two children — Oliver, 11, and Charlie, eight.

“Even after 25 years, I still absolutely idolise the ground he walks on,” she beams. “I’m a firm believer that you become a product of the people you surround yourself with, and I know I’m a better person because of his influence on me, and I know I make him a better person as well. There is an absolutely unbreakable trust between us, and I think that’s the foundation for any successful marriage.”.

Given her hectic work schedule, we wonder how much energy Sara has left to devote to family life at home in Durham. “I’m the mam who likes to say yes to everything. The other week I had a really busy week at work and most people would want to have a pyjama day off, but the kids said, ‘Can we go to the cinema and watch Sonic 3, Mam?’ So I said ‘Yes!’. And then it was, ‘Can we take our friends, and can we have pancakes?’ So I said, ‘Of course, let’s go pick them all up and let me go and buy some eggs.’ So I was making pancakes and feeding the 5,000, but that’s what I want. I want to be the house where all the kids want to be, that’s just how I am.”.

Another important man in Sara’s life is her Strictly Come Dancing partner Aljaž Škorjanec, who she danced with in the 2021 series. Aljaž and his wife Janette Manrara, who became parents themselves in July 2023, are now part of Sara and Simon’s inner circle, and the families holiday together, babysit for each other, and provide a friendly ear in times of need. “I spent more time with him in those three months than I did with my husband,” says Sara. “They’re such amazing people, they’re more like family than friends now.”.

Sara has undergone something of a physical transformation since her Strictly journey, and has lost upwards of 3st thanks to a new appreciation of exercise, and is now a “really happy size 14”. The number on the scales, however, is irrelevant to her. “I had gestational diabetes in both my pregnancies and as I was leaving the hospital, the nurse told me, ‘If you don’t get a handle on your weight, you will have type 2 diabetes in 10 years.’.

“Every year since I’ve had my blood glucose levels checked and every year I’ve seen that number creep up and up towards the pre-diabetic area. Then, two years ago, the doctor told me, ‘This is getting a little bit out of hand, by this time next year you’ll be pre-diabetic.’ It was the kick up the bum I needed.”. Sara says she committed to cutting out sugar in order to jumpstart her recovery. She also upped her running, which she’d started in lockdown, and set herself a challenge to get a good time in the Great North Run half-marathon. “I’d run the Great North Run the year before but it was a disaster and I was really disappointed with my time. It took me three hours to do it. So last year I was on a mission to get a really good GNR time and kept up the running and the training.”.

The reason the scales are her last measure of health, she explains, is that she actually weighs more this year than she did last year, but she’s two dress sizes smaller and most definitely healthier and happier. “Body positivity has never been my issue, I don’t want to be a size six or eight. I’m a very happy size 14. I’ve got big stretch marks and my mum tum, but it’s part of being human, and I know I’m healthy, and that’s what matters to me.”.

Her physical transformation isn’t the only exciting new thing in Sara’s life at the moment — she’s also gearing up for the launch of her new 16-part BBC series, The Big Idea Works. It has a sort of Dragons’ Den-meets-The Repair Shop feel, and sees her working with a team of engineers to bring the ideas of aspiring inventors to life. The projects include a “sugar pen” to check the sugar levels in drinks, a mess-free bird feeder, and a special pillow to help silence snoring.