Dragons’ Den is a popular TV show where contestants pitch their business ideas in hopes of securing financial investment, exposure, and success. One contestant, Zoe Chapman, appeared on the show last year to pitch her award-winning product, Kiddiwhizz, a unisex compact toilet. Zoe came up with the idea for the invention when she was taking care of both her young son and her father, who needed end-of-life care. Despite her efforts to find a suitable handheld portable toilet, she struggled to find one.
Zoe was initially too busy to bring her product to life but after undergoing spinal surgery and reflecting on what she truly wanted to do with her life, she finally created the portable toilet. In 2021, Zoe won awards for her invention, which caught the attention of Dragons’ Den producers. She appeared on the show in 2022, and the events that followed changed her life forever. Zoe credits the show for saving her business and changing everything for her. Following her appearance on the show, she started gaining more attention and was asked to write a blog post about her experience for an online group for single mums called Frolo.
After writing the blog post, Zoe received an email from a woman named Jess that left her astonished. Jess claimed that she had seen Zoe’s story on Dragons’ Den and thought that their children might have the same dad. Zoe shared that she had gotten pregnant when she was 27 by a man who turned out to be domineering and obsessive. Despite the man wanting her to have an abortion, Zoe decided to keep the baby. Jess revealed that she also had a child with the same man, and the similarities in their experiences led Zoe to believe her claim. The two women decided to meet and ended up realizing that their children were half-siblings.
Zoe and Jess introduced their children, who immediately bonded and showed a strong connection despite their different ethnicities. The brother and sister have since met multiple times, and Zoe expressed her gratitude for discovering this connection through Dragons’ Den. She acknowledged that she would have never found out about her son’s half-sibling if it wasn’t for appearing on the show. This unexpected twist in Zoe’s story highlights the profound impact that reality TV can have on people’s lives, beyond just financial success.
