‘Shark Tank’ Sharks Talk Rivalries & Preview ‘Competitive’ Season 17 (VIDEO)

The water’s warm, and the sharks are ready for another dive into dealmaking as Shark Tank returns for Season 17. This time, the business reality competition series moves to Wednesday nights at ABC, and ahead of the September 24 premiere, TV Insider caught up with several of the returning favorites and new guest sharks who’ll be carrying the action this season on the set. Read on to see what we learned from Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, Rashaun L. Williams, Alexis Ohanian, and Allison Ellsworth!

Herjavec, who has been with the series since its inception, says that the reason the U.S. version of the show (which originally began as an adaptation of Japan’s The Tigers of Money and Britain’s Dragons’ Den, the latter of which he appeared on) continues to reign supreme is, “The business of America is business. There is no greater competitive culture than America. Hoorah. I mean, I did the Australian show… I was out [on a pitch], and then the other sharks started asking questions I hadn’t thought of. I was like, ‘Damn it, I should have asked that.’ And I jumped back in. I got the deal. And the other sharks literally stopped and said, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s so rude. Once you’re out, you can’t come back in!’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, welcome to Shark Tank, baby!’ We are so competitive.”

“This is like the NFL Draft,” Williams said of his decision to return for a second run as a guest shark. “I don’t have to go through 10,000 pitch decks to narrow it down to 10 companies. They do it for me, I get to sit next to people who are entrepreneurs and some of the best investors in the country, asking questions that I don’t get to ask. And I get to see the reaction of entrepreneurs after I invest, which I’ve never seen before. And I sometimes cry and I’m emotional about it, and I mean, this is like a platform that I can take the financial literacy that I’ve been teaching for 25 years to the masses, because I love to teach, but the way my bank account is set up, I can’t afford to be a teacher, so now I get to do both.”

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For Ellsworth, the experience of becoming a guest shark is a full-circle moment. The Poppi soda founder first appeared on the show as an entrepreneur in need of an investor in 2018 with her brand — then titled “Mother Beverage.” “For me, it’s the American dream,” she explained. “I started in my kitchen, created something to get to retailers. Needed money, came onto Shark Tank, and it changed my life. I love that I get to be a guest shark because I think it closes that circle of now me being able to kind of give back all of my knowledge, and it really, I think, will inspire others to become entrepreneurs themselves. They can see a mom of three coming on the show, nine months pregnant now, sitting in that chair, it’s pretty special for me.”

Disney / Christopher Willard

Ellsworth said that she was most looking forward to working alongside Kevin O’Leary, who once memorably panned her pitch with a colorful word choice. “He called me an apple cider vinegar Roach when I was in the tank, and I have to get him back,” she joked. “I would love to probably partner on a deal with Daniel [Lubetzky]. We probably have a lot of the same knowledge with him, with Kind Bar and me with Poppi. So there could be something really interesting about us teaming up as well.”

Ohanian said he had been waiting for his chance to join the show ever since he was still heading up Reddit. “About a decade ago, Clay [Newbill, producer] made the mistake of pitching me and getting my hopes up about potentially coming on as a guest in 2014. This is right [in] the year when I came back to Reddit as chairman, and I said, ‘Look, I would love to, I just, I just came back to my company. I got to go all in. I can’t even be away for a minute.’ And thankfully, he didn’t lose my number, and so here we are,” he explained. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a very long time… This is for so many people, their best glimpse of something maybe I take for granted, which is this American dream I get to see every day.”

For John, the spirit of competition between the long-timers of Shark Tank remains as strong as ever. “We’re all competitive. Period. I said, ‘I’m not gonna be embarrassed on TV by Kevin [O’Leary]. I’m not gonna let Kevin take anything from me. Are you kidding me?’ And I look at great opportunities. So I know when to be a shark and a catfish.”

Watch the full interview video above for more from all of these sharks and tune in for the Season 17 premiere on a new night, and find out more details about who else will be joining the scene in Shark Tank Season 17 right here.

Shark Tank, Season 17 Premiere, September 24, 10/9c, ABC 

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