Mum claims Dragons' Den contestant Derry Green locked her out of his glamping site for hours - but there's a happy ending

A mum claims a Dragons' Den glamping pod owner stole the key to her heart on a girls' weekend away - when he left them locked out of the venue for hours.

Chelsea Rogers had visited the Secret Garden Glamping site in Skelmersdale in West Lancashire with four friends for three-nights of relaxation in August 2021, following a recent break up. But when the group arrived on site, they found themselves locked out after realising the glamping business owner, Derry Green, had forgotten to pass on the gate codes. The now 25-year-old said she and her friends tried to make contact with Derry, who is now Chelsea's partner, but were left waiting for two hours to be given the passcode.

When they were eventually let into the campsite, Chelsea said Derry apologised profusely for the mix-up and even brought a bottle of champagne over to their pod that evening to make up for his mistake. It was there that the now 42-year-old said he saw stunning Chelsea sitting on a swing in the The Keep pod for the first time and instantly fell in love. Chelsea said she had not expected to find a fella on her girls’ trip but after the duo began texting back and forth following the long weekend, then met up in Manchester for a night out and their relationship blossomed. Six months later the couple then moved in together and in May this year Chelsea gave birth to their first child Nova Green.

The pair are now business partners and the mum-of-one admits Derry stole the key to her heart despite locking her off site at first. Derry set up his glamping business in 2020 during lockdown and appeared on Dragon's Den this year where he secured a £100,000 investment for a five per cent equity stake in his multi-award-winning company.

Chelsea, from Aberdare in South Wales, said: “I originally made the booking for me and my ex-boyfriend to go but we split up so I took my friends. I was looking forward to a girlie weekend. There were five of us in the end and we went away for a three-night stay.

“During the weekend we got very drunk. We went to Liverpool for a bottomless brunch one day. The first night we stayed in and played card games. We had a glamping pod with a hot tub. I just thought Derry was a man coming to say sorry with a bottle of champagne. I was not there to meet someone. I was there to spend time with my friends. I wasn't thinking anything of it at the time. The same evening, we couldn't work out how to use the griddle so Derry came and helped with that. We couldn't do anything so I had to keep texting him to get him to help us.

“I never expected that the man who was helping us out at the weekend was going to be my partner and business partner. There is no way I thought that weekend was going to end up with me not living at home any more. Derry used the key to lock me out of the glamping pod but stole the key to my heart.”

The dad-of-three said he had forgotten to give Chelsea the gate code before the group arrived as the business was new at the time and he'd been on a day out at a safari park with his two young children. The situation was made worse when as he didn't receive her texts or calls as he had no phone signal in the park.

Derry, who lives in Skelmersdale in West Lancashire, said: “I finally got some signal and I got a message from Chelsea and I noticed two hours had passed. The first time I saw her, she was sitting on a swing. She was the first person I saw - Chelsea sitting on the swing and I thought she was stunning. I didn't know if it was going to be a 50-year-old couple so I was massively surprised to see Chelsea sat there. I was a bit taken back. It was like slow motion and you see all the stars. She definitely stole my heart at that moment.”

Derry admits it was love at first sight with Chelsea and after acting as the group's handyman for the weekend the pair stayed in contact and both fell in love. Derry said: “Throughout their stay, I was up and down at their pod every five minutes. They were all women and had no man to set up the fire so I was like their knight in shining armour and handyman for the evening. I thought this part of my life was done. I had two young kids and they were my focus. Chelsea came around and it felt like everything started again.

“At first after getting together, Chelsea started helping me with the Instagram stories, and then as the business started growing, she helped more and more with the social media. We went from love at first sight to now being business partners.”