Tom Skinner’s inevitable exit from Strictly is a warning to all future contestants

You wonder if Thomas Skinner ever stood a chance in the Strictly world (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

On Sunday night, Thomas Skinner’s brief time on Strictly Come Dancing came to an end – he lost the dance-off against ex-England rugby player Chris Robshaw after receiving no votes from the judges.

The former Apprentice star, 34, had scored just 29 points out of 80 across his first two dances, leaving him far too close to the wrong end of the leaderboard. 

I don’t want to say Tom’s elimination was inevitable – Strictly’s history proves that anyone can surprise you – but I doubt anyone was shocked by Sunday’s result.

His early exit should provide a warning for future contestants: When you sign up for Strictly, you sign up for much more than the dancing – so either get on the glittery, high-camp Strictly ride, or risk being left behind.

If you’re not prepared for the full Strictly experience – which, beyond all the sequins and noise, involves the press rummaging for any skeletons in your wardrobe – then it won’t be long before you’re sent packing.

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Upon the reveal of Skinner’s involvement in Strictly’s 2025 series, it’s no secret to say that he was a controversial choice, with a portion of the show’s viewers immediately voicing their disapproval.

29 points out of 80 reflected a dismal two weeks (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

He’s been accused of pandering to far-right groups due to the political content on his social media pages. He’s also rubbed shoulders with US Vice President JD Vance and praised President Donald Trump to the high heavens, all while engaging in a war of words with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and cosying up to controversial Tory MP Robert Jenrick.

A number of my left-leaning friends who don’t watch the show were concerned that Tom would use it as a platform to boost his profile, gain sympathy with the British public, and then attempt a formal move into right-wing politics. 

But I shared no such anxieties. In fact, sitting at home, watching Tess Daly say goodbye to him, I congratulated myself for calling Tom’s early exit on the day he was announced. Because on Strictly, celebrities have virtually no chance of standing apart from its overwhelming, circus-like hullabaloo, and they have absolutely nowhere to hide if they don’t fit. 

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Just weeks later came a tell-all interview to The Sun, in which Skinner revealed he had engaged in an affair three years ago, shortly after marrying his wife Sinead. 

I defended Tom then on the grounds that what happens in marriage should remain private, allowing the space and time needed to repair any damage. And it appeared he and Sinead had already done that, with Tom apologising once more and thanking his wife for sticking with him despite his mistakes.

The same goes for his stolen goods conviction from 2011. He maintains his innocence and I was willing to take him at his word and trust that his conviction was the kick up the backside he needed to turn his life around. 

At moments, I actually felt a degree of sympathy and even wondered if some unknown party in the British press actually had it in for him – watching his past be dragged into the spotlight after he appeared to have moved on must have been tough.

Ross King has embraced the competition (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

But the tone of Skinner’s social media content has – in my estimation –grown increasingly bitter and defensive since he joined the show. As the first show drew ever closer, I wondered if he was already beginning to resent the amount of media focus he now was enduring.

And it wasn’t long before he was accused not only of failing to pay back a £50,000 Covid business loan, but also of making up ‘fake death threats’ following the Strictly launch show. I started to question how much he really had learned from his previous experiences. Many fans also queried the authenticity of Tom’s working-class grafter image after finding out that he was privately educated. 

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This is the thing about being involved in Strictly: the attention and noise that come with it take absolutely no prisoners. If you can’t keep a smile on your face at all times, and if your TV persona cracks after a quick Google search, the public will seize upon it and vote you off.

He said ‘No’ when he was asked by Daily Mail reporters if he regretted signing up for Strictly after the litany of stories, but I suspected – after his disastrous Dizzee Rascal dance on Saturday – that the question crossed his mind again. 

It wasn’t to be on Saturday night… (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

In hindsight, you wonder what chance Tom stood in the Strictly world. 

This is a show that – despite its own scandals – has featured same-sex dance couples, is committed to diversity and equal representation in its line-ups, and has featured an openly gay judge in every single episode since its inception in 2004.

If you reveal your support for Donald ‘I’m not in favour of gay marriage’ Trump, and if you attend a party with JD ‘radical teachers are secretly spreading LGBT propaganda’ Vance, be prepared for the very tenets of Strictly to bowl you over. 

This isn’t just about politics, though. Series pro dancer Kai Widdrington is a self-confessed ‘avid watcher’ of GB News and has lauded the channel for its ‘honesty’. Yet he’s there every Saturday night, on the Strictly rollercoaster, with nobody at home calling for his removal from the series.

The bitter controversy that Tom fuels and seeks out with his lengthy political rants on social media – and the company he chooses to keep – was always going to be his undoing once he was under the Strictly microscope. 

Considering Nigel Farage and Matt Hancock have both come awfully close to being King of the Jungle in recent years, you wonder if I’m A Celebrity is where Tom might go next, safe in the knowledge that all he’ll have to do is eat a few bugs to gain the nation’s sympathies. 

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