SWIMMING WITH THE TV SHARKS!

Contestants gripe landing deal isn't all fin and games

SHARK Tank’s bigbucks investors are accused of being money-hungry sharpies who later ripped apart deals they originally made with contestants on TV, leaving the little guys’ big dreams for business success torn to shreds.

In a bombshell revelation, respected business bible Forbes magazine reports half of the 112 deals struck on air during seasons eight through 13 failed to go through when the cameras stopped — and 15 percent of those that did ended up with key changes.

That makes the popular show’s investor heroes — including Barbara Corcoran, Daymond John, Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Robert Herjavec and Lori Greiner — look like real sharks who take advantage of business hopefuls, often crushing their dreams, critics claim.

One former contestant slams the TV gurus, claiming dealing with them “was more like talking to a loan shark. The only time it felt like they wanted to close was the handshake on TV.”

Former NFL star Al “Bubba” Baker, 66, supposedly had a deal with Daymond John, who would pay $300,000 for 30 percent of his Bubba’s Q Boneless Baby Back Ribs and a special method of removing the bone from the meat.

But off-air John, Bubba claims, took a big bite out of the deal, forcing him to accept just $100,000 for 35 percent of the company and icing him out of business meetings.