Dragons’ Den star Theo Paphitis mocked by BBC viewers for ‘startling’ background portrait of himself

‘Theo Paphitis just invented the Reverse Dorian Grey’ quipped one viewer

Dragons’ Den star Theo Paphitis is being sent up BBC viewers after being interviewed in front of a large portrait of his own head. 

The mogul was featured on BBC Breakfast to discuss the UK retail industry, which has suffered under lockdown restrictions during the pandemic. 

 “Physical shops are really looking over the precipice at the moment,” he said. “We’ve never experienced anything like this.

He continued: "People have changed their habits because it’s taken so long to get out of this pandemic. When things hopefully will go to normal but not everybody will go back to the way they were before."  

However, while he was speaking, many viewers were more fixated on the background of the interview, which was being conducted virtually. 

“Why does Theo Paphitis have a portrait of himself on the wall?” asked one viewer.

“I think have a winner for most startling Zoom background,” joked another.

“Theo Paphitis just invented the Reverse Dorian Grey”, another Twitter user quipped.

Someone else tagged the popular Twitter account “Accidental Partridge”, which shares instances when public figures behave in a manner befitting Steve Coogan’s gauche sitcom creation Alan Partridge.