Shark Tank: Secrets From Inside The Tank

If you ever thought you had a product or idea worthy of the “Shark Tank,” Access Hollywood has five secrets from the ABC series straight from the Sharks you’ll want to know before diving into the deep end.

AccessHollywood.com’s Laura Saltman recently caught up with the Sharks on the set of their hit series, where they dished on some of the show details and fun facts. Here are five insider tips she got from the millionaire and billionaire investors:

• The show, which is in Season 5, shoots an entire season in just 20 days
• Sharks Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Daymond John, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner and new Shark John Paul DeJoria see about 250 people every season, who are hoping their product will land a deal. Each day of taping can last up to 12 hours in the Tank.
• Over 40,000 hopefuls apply – that’s a lot of bad ideas that never get inside the Tank – for the show each season
• The Sharks wear the same outfit every episode for show continuity reasons. “It’s for editing… and in Cuban’s case it’s the only suit he owns and for Daymond can only wear black, it’s in his contact,” Robert Herjavec joked with Laura when asked about their repetitive wardrobe.
• And are the Sharks really writing useful information on those notepads, or are they just doodling sketches for their new mansion? “We’re actually doing numbers and information,” Mark told Laura, explaining they know close to nothing about the people prior to the show. “They walk in the door and the only thing we know about them is there first name.”

“Shark Tank” airs Fridays at 9 PM on ABC.

— Jesse Spero