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Social media star Thomas Skinner is competing in this year’s edition of Strictly Come Dancing, already proving to be the most controversial casting of the series.
The 34-year-old former Apprentice contestant has said that he is ābeyond excitedā to be joining the BBC dancing show and added that he had ānever danced in my life other than at weddingsā.
After rising to prominence on the 15th series of Lord Sugarās business show in 2019, Skinner gained a significant social media following and developed his catchphrase āboshā.
He now runs several businesses, such as a gym and a mattress company, and has appeared on numerous TV shows, including Celebrity MasterChef, 8 Out of 10 Cats and The Wheel.
In 2023, he released the self-help book Graft: How to Smash Life and, in 2024, presented The Menās Room mental health podcast with former footballer Neil Ruddock.
Skinnerās casting has proved controversial among Strictly fans, since the news came just weeks after he was seen socialising with US vice-president JD Vance at a barbecue during his visit to the Cotswolds this summer, during which time he was pictured wearing a Maga (Make America Great Again) cap.
Skinner posted a snap with Vance on Instagram and called it a āonce in a lifetimeā event.
Writing on Instagram, he said: āUnreal night with JD and his friends and family. He was a proper gent. Lots of laughs and some fantastic food. A brilliant night, one to tell the grandkids about.ā
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Thomas Skinner said meeting JD Vance was a āonce in a lifetimeā event (Thomas Skinner/X)
Others have taken issue with Skinnerās recent X/Twitter posts, which state it is ānot far-rightā to be āflying your flag and loving your countryā, and complaining āit aināt safe out there any moreā in London, saying the city is āhostileā and ātenseā.
In early September, BBC director general Tim Davie defended the decision to cast Skinner in the forthcoming series, telling MPs from the Culture, Media and Sport committee that the casting team chose contestants who they believe will be interesting to the audience.
Days later, Skinner issued an apology after picking up a journalistās phone and leaving a Strictly press event at Elstree Studios, where he was being interviewed alongside the rest of the 2025 cast.
Skinner claimed, in a statement on 10 September, that he left the press event because he noticed ānumerous messagesā on a journalistās phone containing information about a personal story from his past.
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Thomas Skinner photographed in 2020 (Getty)
He said: āIāve been through some difficult times in my life, which Iāve 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.ā
āThis had nothing to do with the interviews or Strictly itself. Iām sorry I picked up someone elseās phone and I donāt even know if the journalist realised their messages were visible, and I donāt want to suggest any bad intentions on their part,ā he continued.
Skinner finished the post by reiterating how excited he was to be a part of Strictly this year and thanked fans for āthe love, kindness and support Iāve been shown so farā.
Strictly Come Dancing returns on 20 September.