DUNCAN Bannatyne has said his love for his children stopped him from committing suicide during the acrimonious divorce from his wife of five years.
Following the split from Joanne McCue, the Scots business tycoon said he had seriously considered taking his own life – but the love for his children stopped him.
The 64-year-old, who has has five children from his two marriages, used Twitter during the divorce to claim his wife had financially crippled him.
Bannatyne, who is currently estimated to be worth £85m, said in an interview with Hello: “I seriously considered suicide and came very close to it.”
Asked what had stopped him, Bannatyne said: “The love of my children, I live for them now.”
Bannatyne described himself as a “great father”.
He added: “I always have been and I think my children would tell you that.
“Just spending time with them and having proper values, such as looking after people, being polite and well mannered and grateful for what you’ve got.
My children don’t get shedloads of money – they have to earn it.
“I remember reading a story about a teenager who was given a Ferrari and who crashed it and was killed. His parents were distraught. I would never put my children in that position.”
Bannatyne has four daughters from his first marriage and a 14-year-old daughter, Emily, and 11-year-old son, Tom, from his marriage to Miss McCue.
Despite his youngest daughter, Emily not being in contact with his at the moment, Bannatyne told the magazine that Tom had expressed an interest in living with him again.
Of Emily, he said: “Everyone keeps telling me that will change.
“But she’s 14 – she knows her own mind – so we’ll see.”
His daughters Abigail, 30, Hollie, 27, Jennifer, 21, and Eve, 19, were very “protective” of him during his recent divorce, said Bannatyne.
Bannatyne married Miss McCue in 2006 after nine years together. They split in 2011 after he received a text from her while filming Dragon’s Den that stated she was filing for divorce.
In a series of tweets, Bannatyne claimed that due to his divorce he would have to make staff redundant and could no longer support charities as his wife was demanding £1,000 a day.
He tweeted at the time: ‘I just feel like the family have taken food from the mouths of orphans in Romania to buy themselves new cars. There is nothing I can do about it.’
He added: ‘I just received my Decree Absolute by email, isn’t that nice? #DivorcedForMoney by a #GoldDiggingFamily’.
Earlier this year the Sunday Times Rich List showed his wealth falling from £430 million to £85 million in two years.
