Dragons' Den star Sara Davies says weight loss enabled her to 'run up mountains'

Sara Davies has just finished trekking the Indian Himalayas for the breast cancer charity CoppaFeel! - which she was inspired to do so by close friend Amy Dowden

For many of us, getting in shape can feel like a huge hill to climb, but for Dragons' Den star Sara Davies, her newfound love of fitness has literally enabled her "to run up and down mountains." Sara. 40, who has dropped more than three dress sizes in a year, has just finished trekking the Indian Himalayas to raise money for the breast cancer charity CoppaFeel!

A Strictly Come Dancing contestant in 2021, she was inspired to take part by her friend Amy Dowden, a professional dancer for the show, who has bravely shared details of her journey from being diagnosed with grade three breast cancer in May 2023, to getting the all clear this year.

“She's a very good friend of mine,” says Sara, “I was thinking about her and talking about her a lot when we were trekking.” Amy has revealed how she began checking her breasts after completing a CoppaFeel! Trek with podcast host Giovanna Fletcher - leading to her discovering a lump on the day before she went on honeymoon with fellow dancer Ben Jones. Sara continues: “Detection is what saves lives. It could have been a very different story.”

The businesswoman from Coundon, County Durham, spent four days trekking from dawn to dusk on the Dhauladhar mountain range and navigating treacherous terrain without a comfy bed or showers. Thanks to a fitness drive she has been diligently following since last year, when she was warned by her GP that she was at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, she was delighted to have been able to bound up and down the precarious paths.

She says: “It meant I could run up and down that mountain instead of just being in the line trekking. I was able to check in with the people at the front and run back up and down again. I've lost a bit of weight. I have toned up, I'm stronger, my muscles are stronger. I'm doing strength training and running a lot.”

Explaining the reason for her fitness drive, the mum-of-two adds: “I was going for a health checkup last year, where my doctor gave me a bit of a kick up the behind and said that, if I wasn’t careful, I'd be looking at type 2 diabetes this year and I needed to get my BMI under control.”

In typical Dragon style, she rose to the challenge - exercising, cutting out sugar and increasing the amount of vegetables and fibre in her diet. “Had I not done that, I don’t think I would have been well enough to do the trek. I would not have been able to manage it like I did,” she says.

Joining her were fellow celebrities Emma Willis, Angela Scanlon, Candice Brown, Erin Kennedy and Giovanna Fletcher, as well as a number of women who were affected by breast cancer. The trek was particularly poignant, as it came just over six months after the death of Coppafeel! founder Kristen Hallenga, who was diagnosed with incurable stage 4 breast cancer at the age of 23 in 2009, and wanted the charity to promote early detection by encouraging women under 30 to regularly check their breasts.

Aged 38, when she died on 6 May 2024, Kristen campaigned for cancer education to be included in the school curriculum and wanted a late diagnosis of breast cancer to be eradicated in her lifetime, making Coppafeel! no longer necessary. “Trust your body. Believe in hope. Leave room for miracles,” was one of her mantras.

Each celebrity on the CoppaTrek! Himalayan challenge earlier this month led a team of women who either had breast cancer, had received the all clear, or were supporting someone close to them with the disease.

As well as trekking for 10 hours a day, Sara says: “We had to shoulder a lot of these people's worries, concerns, hear the stories, and try and pick them up. And it is really hard. You've got to really, really care at a very, very deep level.” Sara bonded so tightly with her group that she even stripped off alongside them, saying: “Around half my group had gone through a mastectomy or had reconstructive surgery.

“On the third day, at a particularly beautiful vantage point, one of the girls wanted to take her top off and take a picture of her looking out at the view from behind," she says. "It went from there and I think about half of our group bared our chests with our backs to the camera. It was a really moving time. It just allowed people to open up and talk about this sort of stuff.”

Sara, who founded her company Crafter's Companion in 2005 while she was still at university, was also able to use her business skills to rally the group. ”We actually adopted a little bit of the Dragons' Den thing while we were trekking,” she laughs. “It can be difficult to say to someone that you are struggling one day. So, one of the team came up with a code word to say which was ‘I need an investment.’ People would come up to me and say ‘Sara I think this person needs an investment.’

“The trip was just incredible. It was draining but phenomenally rewarding. I had some of the best days of my life.”

Sara joined Giovanna Fletcher in completing the 'CoppaTrek! with Gi' in the Indian Himalayas, raising vital funds and awareness for breast cancer charity, CoppaFeel!. To donate, please click here