Gary Neville lifts lid on key advice from co-stars ahead of Dragon’s Den debut

Gary Neville has lifted the lid on the essential advice he has been given by his fellow co-stars ahead of his Dragon’s Den debut later this year.

These days, the 48-year-old ex-Manchester United player is usually seen giving passionate football rants and expert analysis of the beautiful game as a pundit on Sky Sports.

But the sportsman is set for a major career change after it was announced on Tuesday (June 27) that he will be making a guest appearance on the 21st series of the popular BBC business programme.

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He will be joining the likes of Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleman, Sarah Davies and Steven Bartlett in the den and grilling budding entrepreneurs on their bold business ideas.

Now, the dad-of-two has revealed some of the best kept secrets on the show in an interview with Jermain Jenas and Lauren Laverne on The One Show.

When asked about what advice he has received during his first day of filming, Gary gushed over how much help he has been offered by his fellow co-stars.

But arguably one key tip was “don’t speak as much as I normally do,” he joked. “I think there’s loads of little things they’ve told me.”

“Sarah was talking to me and obviously they have the notepads and pens and just sort of make sure you don’t write too many things down and make sure you just write down the key headlines.

“And that you focus on the things that you’re going to concentrate on and don’t listen to everything that everybody says.

"Because some of the pitches can take quite a long time when you’re in there and you’re watching it and you can feel quite consumed.”

He added: “I've had good advice all day, I've been really looked after and they’ve made it more comfortable for me with my first one and I've got a few more tomorrow. So we will see how we go.”

The BBC has confirmed that the new series will air to BBC One and iPlayer next year and filming has already started taking place in Manchester.

Speaking about his new Dragon role, Gary said: “I am excited to join the Dragons, and to meet the entrepreneurs brave enough to face us in the Den.

"I hope my personal journey shows that you can take the experiences you’ve had in one part of your career and use them to do something entirely different and make it a success.

"Business is all about managing people and managing yourself and I’m looking forward to sharing my experience to help the entrepreneurs we’ll meet in the Den reach their potential.”

Now-businessman Gary is no stranger to the business world and his company Relentless is leading the £120million development in Jackson's Row, Manchester.

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Gary is also joining fellow guest Dragon and fashion mogul Emma Grede, who said: "I’m no stranger to the boardroom.

"I’m surrounded by strong women, and I champion those who are independent and have an idea that I can help develop and grow."

The BBC said that Emma and Gary "will be joining the usual line-up in episodes next year, to shake things up and impart their unique business advice on those entering the Den".

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