Shark Tank big name Kevin O’Leary was poised to be some of the display’s most intimidating Sharks from the very beginning.
“I went to see [producer Mark Burnett] at a restaurant [in a] hotel called Shutters in the beginning, before the pilot, and he said, ‘We’re in search of a real a-hole and also you’re it,’” O’Leary completely instructed Us Weekly on Monday, September 25, whilst selling Shark Tank’s milestone 15th season — which premieres on Friday, September 29.
Being probably the most ABC series’ maximum ambitious Sharks is a job O’Leary said he’s satisfied to take on. He joked: “I’ve won the Most Villainous Guy on TV [award] twice. I’m so happy with that. Sure, we’ve received a couple of Emmys, however profitable the award as the Most Hated Man, that’s arduous to do. I’m so pleased with it.”
Before Shark Tank’s premiere in 2009, he and costar Robert Herjavec labored in combination on the show’s U.Ok. counterpart, Dragon’s Den. Just like O’Leary, Herjavec, 61, was once contacted by Burnett, 63, to join the series — handiest on much shorter notice.
“They had been already starting to shoot and so they had any person else that used to be going to be me — any individual who was in truth pretty well-known, we will be able to’t say — after which it didn’t determine,” the Canadian businessman defined to Us. “So, Mark known as me. I was in fact skiing, and he mentioned, ‘We’re doing this show known as Shark Tank with Kevin. You will have to come and do it.’ And I stated, ‘Great. Where do you shoot?’ He said, ‘California. Can you be here by the next day?’ And we were given a visa in 24 hours. It was once incredible.”
Despite his previous experience on Dragon’s Den, Herjavec idea Shark Tank would be a “hard thought to get off the bottom” for American audiences. “In the primary season, I take into account we had dinner and we have been all like, ‘Wow, that used to be tremendous. We’ll by no means see you again,’” she shared.
O’Leary agreed, adding, “The premise used to be for truth TV, if you got five years, that was an enormous run. And for the first few years it struggled, however then it captured the imagination of everybody that had inspiration to be an entrepreneur in America, and that’s everybody.”
Now 15 seasons in, the display’s good fortune “shocked everyone excited about it,” according to O’Leary. “It become a family show at the same time, it went geometric in its fourth year and we’ve never appeared back,” he added.
The pair have grown close with their fellow Sharks Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner through the years, such a lot so that they aren’t afraid to poke fun at each other.
“We’ve been running in combination for 15 years and I will say this — and this just displays you ways much we love each other — I buy [Barbara] a brand new broom every year so she will be able to make it to California,” O’Leary quipped, to which Herjavec answered, “You’re so imply to her.”
O’Leary, for his phase, said that he’s “now not imply in any respect,” ahead of stating, “I call to mind her like my great-grandmother, very lovingly.”
Thank You!
You have effectively subscribed.
Shark Tank season 15 premieres on ABC Friday, September 29, at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tr%2FMmp6aspmjsm%2BvzqZmnqakmr%2B1rcinpJ6mpGS7psPSaKKerpmjerC4xJqpsmWZqHqxvs6um2asmJbBbr%2FHmqmkZaSWu6x5wpqqrWWYnrpuwM5mmZ5lkaN6onnHqKOeZw%3D%3D