In times gone by, it used to be that the scandal of Strictly would happen after the show had started. The ‘Strictly Curse’ became a bigger part of the show than the actual dancing. However, in recent years the lovely dancing show has been marred by other controversy. Notably, we’ve had allegations of the professional dancers being abusive towards their female celebrity partners to the extent that we didn’t even know how the show would go on last year. It did, but with noticeably fewer female celebrities, and that’s before we get into the absolute weirdness that was the creepy Wynne Evans. And once again, the controversy surrounding Strictly Come Dancing has started before it’s even begun, this time with the divisive pick of “celebrity” contestant, right-wing grifter Thomas Skinner.
Strictly’s most controversial contestant yet? BOSH
If you’re unfamiliar with Thomas Skinner’s work, he’s a self-styled cheeky chappy who came 7th on series 15 of The Apprentice, though more recently he’s become known for his increasingly right-wing views on social media about immigration and benefits, ending all his tweets with “BOSH”.
Most recently, he went viral for a bizarre now-deleted tweet claiming he was being targeted by the “tofu-eating woke brigade” who wanted to take away his favourite pastime of having a full English and “who think having a pint on a Friday is a hate crime”.
Skinner likes to portray himself as just a working-class lad who’s just saying what other good, honest, hardworking lads are thinking. But he, of course, went to private school. His right-wing shenanigans meant he even met JD Vance a couple of weeks ago. So there’s been mounting pressure by the public on the BBC to axe him, and he’s not helping himself.
Thomas Skinner gets paranoid during a press day
Last week, during the press day for Strictly Thomas Skinner caused a stir when he grabbed a reporter’s phone and demanded to know why she was recording the interview, which is common practice for journalists. He then stormed out. He later apologised on Instagram, claiming he’d seen messages about his personal life on her phone.
He said:
I’ve been through some difficult times in my life, which I’ve worked hard to move on from. In that moment, seeing it there caught me off guard. I felt it was best to step away and gather myself.
Which is all very well, until a few days later, the story seemed to have been uncovered when he gave a tearful interview to the Sun, admitting he’d cheated on his wife in 2022. In the interview, he says it was just a two-week fling and that it was a “moment of madness”.
The “other woman” spoke out
However, this is of course not true. The woman Thomas Skinner had a relationship with, beautician Amy-Lucy O’Rourke, told her side of the story. In the Daily Mail she explained that she and Skinner had actually been together for three months after meeting in 2022. Amy-Lucy said:
Thomas told me I was the love of his life and sold me an absolute dream. He told me he was in a loveless relationship of convenience.
She said that his “sweet talking and lies” convinced her that they were in love.
Skinner married his now wife, Sinead, in May of 2022. However, he was still messaging Amy-Lucy days before the wedding; they were also in touch just eight days after. He told Amy-Lucy that Sinead was from a traveller family and that they would’ve killed him if he hadn’t gone through with the wedding.
Lovebombing and lies
Amy-Lucy says Thomas Skinner “lovebombed” her, forever telling her how much he loved her, calling her multiple times a day, but also that she never had to work with him around – her business suffered as a result.
He eventually told Amy-Lucy he’d told Sinead everything and that they’d ended it amicably. He then began living with Amy-Lucy part-time. But then she discovered the truth.
After an event that both he and Sinead were at, Amy-Lucy checked Sinead’s Instagram and saw photos of the married couple where they were clearly very happy together, and Thomas was wearing his wedding ring.
She said:
I felt sick and confronted him. He was so drunk he was struggling to lie and abandoned me in the restaurant. I was absolutely distraught. I messaged Sinead on Instagram as soon as I realised what was really going on. She replied immediately and told me Tom had warned her I would be getting in touch to tell lies about him.
Skinner then showed up at Amy-Lucy’s door at 7.30am the next day. He repeatedly banged and shouted to be let in until she lost her temper and smashed his car windscreen.
She said:
I was so angry he’d come back saying he wanted a cup of tea and a cuddle after such a traumatic incident. I was furious and smashed his windscreen and all he did was laugh and drove away. He rang me moments after to tell me I’d never looked sexier. It was all a joke to him.
She continued:
I was absolutely broken when I realised how stupid I’d been – how I’d believed his lies.
Despite this, they briefly rekindled their romance after Skinner managed to weasel his way back into her life, but she ended it and cut all contact. But he kept constantly texting and calling her to the point that she was so stressed she crashed her car.
Amy-Lucy says that the relationship is still affecting her three years on and she’s speaking her truth now because:
I’m glad to be over him now, but I believe the world needs to know what he is really like.
Thomas Skinner tries to weasel his way out, again
Thomas Skinner responded to Amy-Lucy’s claims on, of course, his Twitter, where he said he’s been made a target:
I’ve noticed I’m being portrayed as public enemy number 1. They’re trying to break me and get me cancelled. And if I’m honest, I’m not sure why.
Probably let’s be honest, Thomas, because not only do you have disgusting views on Twitter, but it has been proven you treat women like shit too.
He goes on during his Twitter diatribe to say that the press is trying to ruin him and that he’s being backed into a corner. Most bizarrely, he says, “I’ve made mistakes and if you dig you’ll find more” which you just know the press are gonna do.
In response to this and the abuse she said she’s received online, Amy-Lucy posted a story on her Instagram. She says in the post:
At the end of the day, this absolute troll convinced me that he loved me and I’d saved him from his sad life and made me think I was in love with him! Absolutely broke my heart, played fucked up mind games till the very end, you don’t even know the half of what I went through the tears I cried.
She continued:
So tell me why should I have to keep quiet and watch him on a family BBC show banging on about how much of a lovely family man he is? The public deserve to know the real him.
Stop platforming fascists and believe women
Amy-Lucy is, of course, right. In a world where men who shout the loudest are given platforms, the women who speak out against them deserve to be heard even more. Many questioned why Skinner was picked for Strictly when he has such divisive views. However, it’s obvious that he was picked because of those views and that his appearance on the show would drum up more views.
It’s disgusting that that’s where we’re at with what should be harmless reality TV, but let’s be honest, Strictly was platforming fascists before it was cool to with the likes of Ann Widdecombe back in 2010.
Thomas Skinner was always a controversial pick for Strictly, but will it prove one controversy too far? Hopefully, if the BBC sees sense and stops platforming this right-wing manipulative prick.
Featured image via the Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.