Dragon's Den Scandal: Entrepreneur Accused of 'Snake Oil' Sales Reveals Producer Recruitment, Company Name Change, and New Director

 A Dragons' Den entrepreneur who has been accused of selling snake oil on the BBC show has revealed she was recruited by it's producers to take part.

Giselle Boxer, 31, from Sheffield, appeared on the BBC show last week and asked for £50,000 for a 10 per cent stake in her business selling ear seeds, which she claimed  helped 'cure herself from ME'.

After the show was aired, various doctors and myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) sufferers hit out at the BBC and the business, Acu Seeds, for promoting an alternative medicine with no scientific evidence it can help ME or fatigue.

ME sufferers have also taken to social media to complain about the product and accused Giselle of selling 'snake oil'.

But Giselle has now responded to the criticism, saying she was recruited by a researcher to appear on the show and went through various stages of due diligence looking into her business before she went on.

It comes as it appears Acu Seeds has changed its name to East Healing Ltd and has Steven Bartlett's brother listed as a director instead of him, according to information on Companies House.

 

Giselle told The Mirror: 'Funnily enough they 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 to the Dragons.'

She said she 'never said the ear seeds are a cure' and 'I have always said ME is a complex condition and that a combination of healing approaches is what I believed supported my recovery.'

Many viewers believe that the contestants have applied to be on the programme themselves and there is a big call out for entrepreneurs to get in touch if they want to appear at the end of some shows.

Despite agreeing to an offer of £50,000 for a 12.5 per cent of her business - from Steven Bartlett, 31, - he is not listed as a director in the company on Companies House.

Instead his brother Jason Bartlett appears under the role instead, while it also shows that the company changed its name from Acu Seeds to East Healing Ltd.

The listing reveals that the company name change was certified on September 22, 2022.

The appointment of Jason as a director was then made on January 19, 2024.

MailOnline has contacted Steven Bartlett and Giselle Boxer for comment.

Elsewhere, the ME association has reported Acu Seeds to the Advertising Standards Agency and written to the BBC and chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport committee and chairman of the health and social care committee.

They said: 'People who have ME/CFS are often on very low incomes and in the absence of any effective medical treatment are very vulnerable to these sort of unsubstantiated therapeutic claims.

'They are fed up with the way in which unproven and expensive treatments are regularly being promoted to them.

'This programme has therefore caused a great deal of upset and anger in the ME/CFS [Chronic Fatigue Syndrome] patient community,' the letter reads.

It adds that during Dragons' Den none of the panel asked any questions about 'validity Acu Seeds in ME/CFS and whether there was any scientific evidence of safety and efficacy for this product'.

Dr Charles Shepard, Hon Medical Advisor for The ME Association, said: 'The way in which Dragons' Den has been used to promote an unproven treatment for ME/CFS has, not surprisingly, caused a great deal of upset and concern in the ME patient community.

'People with ME/CFS are fed up with the way in which products like this are regularly being promoted when there is no sound evidence from proper placebo-controlled clinical trials to confirm that they are safe and effective.

'These sort of expensive commercial products and devices should not be promoted to very vulnerable sick people until they have been properly assessed for safety and efficacy in clinical trials – in exactly the same way that drug treatments are.'

And he's not the only doctor pushing back against the product.

Dr. Edzard Ernst, an MD and PhD who specialises in research around alternative medicines said there is 'no good evidence' to support any of her claims.

'There is no sound evidence that these acupressure devices are effective for ME or other conditions.

'To give severely suffering patients false hope is unethical; to take money from it is despicable, in my view.

'I am disappointed that the BBC uses a light entertainment programme for misleading gullible consumers and desperate patients. I hope in future the BBC might do a minimum of research before broadcasting overt medical nonsense,' he told FEMAIL.

Other people who suffer from ME and chronic fatigue syndrome have taken to social media to complain.

One TikToker, called Rebecca, who shares videos about her ME said: 'As if it's not bad enough she's bragging about buying them for £3 and selling them for £30, with her gigantic gross and net margins, well it turns out she's also selling people in her club snake oil'.

In the episode, Giselle said she went from being an advertising executive with a busy social life to unable to leave the house.

She says she was diagnosed with ME and told by doctors she would never recover or be able to have children.   

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) causes extreme tiredness, sleeping problems and brain fog, in less than 12 months with the help of acupuncture and Chinese ear seeds.

The mother of a three-year-old daughter then made Dragons' Den history as she became the first contestant to get an offer from all six judges.

In her pitch, she said: 'My business is the ideal mix of beauty and wellness. Today, I am asking for £50,000 investment for 10 per cent of my business.

'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 and being unable to walk 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, helped me recover in less than 12 months.'

'Soon after, I felt pregnant and it was while on maternity leave that I setup Acu Seeds after realising there was a gap in the market for ear seed kits for people to use at home'.

Ear seeds were invented by Dr. Paul Nogier in the 1950s and are similar to an ancient Chinese medicine tool, which uses the principles of acupressure but without the needles.

Giselle said: 'They are tiny beads that stick onto the ear applying pressure on to nerve endings.

'They send signals to the brain and body to relax the nervous system, release endorphins and naturally relieve pain.

'I work on this business for three days a week and spend the rest of my time working with my three-year-old daughter.'

During the pitch, Giselle told the dragons that the ear seeds she was using in her battle with chronic illness were not 'very beautiful' and were 'embarrassing' to have on your ear. This inspired her to design her own more discreet ear seeds.

She has been running the business for 18 months and generated £92,000 in revenue in her first year and a healthy £64,000 net profit - which the dragons found very impressive.

She spent £5,000 of her own savings to get the business off the ground and took a £31,000 salary - and still managed a healthy net profit.

She then asked for £50,000 for a 10 per cent stake in her business, a deal which all the other judges met - apart from Diary of a CEO host Steven Bartlett who offered her £50,000 for 15 per cent.

Giselle then told the Dragons': 'I don't know if you believe in spirituality and all this stuff but I was told I was going to meet a man called Steven and that he was going to be really important.  

'This was before any of this happened. So, I would really like to work with you [Steven].

She asked if he would be 'flexible' on his 15 per cent offer and asked if he could do 12.5 per cent — which he accepted.

A BBC spokesperson said: 'Dragons' Den features products from entrepreneurs and is not an endorsement of them.

'Dragons' Den 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.'