Strictly Come Dancing has eliminated its first contestant from the 2025 series: divisive internet personality and Apprentice star Thomas Skinner.
After two weeks without any public voting, everything changed on Saturday night (4 October) when viewers at home were allowed to pick up their phones and cast their votes for the first time this year.
After the scores were tallied, it was announced that Skinner and his partner Amy Dowden would face former England rugby star Chris Robshaw and Nadiya Bychkova in the dreaded dance-off.
Skinner and his partner performed their salsa to “Bonkers” by Dizzee Rascal, while Robshaw and Bychkova repeated the Viennese waltz to “Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. The judges ultimately opted to save Robshaw and keep him in the competition.
Head judge Shirley Ballas and judges Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood all voted to save Robshaw and Bychkova, meaning Motsi Mabuse did not need to use her casting vote. However, she said she would have voted the same way when asked by host Tess Daly.
Speaking about his time on the show, Skinner said: “I’ve loved it. I’ve never danced before and my stay was short, but Amy’s amazing.
“It’s been great fun and I’ve enjoyed it. I can’t really dance that well but I’ve had fun! Thank you, Amy – sorry that we haven’t done too good, ‘cause you’re a different class.”
Dowden said of her time with Skinner: “We’ve laughed so much. We’ve worked so hard and a glitterball would have been amazing, but what I’ve learnt in the last few years is happiness, health and being alive is more important than anything.
She continued: “There is a ballroom boy in there, so I’m a bit gutted he didn’t get to do the ballroom, but the last three years, as you know, have been quite difficult for me. I lost all confidence as a dancer – but walking into the room with you with a massive smile and a laugh, you brought me back and, honestly, thank you.”
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Dowden was unable to compete in the last two seasons of Strictly as she was receiving cancer treatment in 2023 and suffered a subsequent foot injury that saw her withdraw from last year’s competition.
The judges decision comes after the couples’ scores from week one and week two were added to the public vote. Skinner ended Saturday’s show with a joint score of 29, having scored just 13 for his salsa. However, bookies predicted Ross King would leave the show.
Skinner was left visibly frustrated by his second week of low scores, having previously claimed that viewer backlash directed at him over his support of US president Donald Trump only made him stronger.
The internet personality was mired by numerous controversies ahead of the start of the Strictly series. Days before the series launch, he snatched a journalist’s phone at a press conference before walking out of the event.
“I happened to catch a glimpse of the screen and saw numerous messages – not about Strictly – but about a personal story from my past,” Skinner explained later. “In that moment, seeing it there caught me off guard.”
In September, Skinner admitted to cheating on his wife weeks after their wedding, calling it a “fling” that took place “the one time”. The aftermath “was a very, very dark time”, he said, adding that his wife “never deserved that, she’s such a good person, without her I wouldn’t be where I am today – she made me”.
Skinner advised anyone who has made a mistake to “be honest and own up to it”, and said “we are in an incredible place. It’s forgotten about and we’ve moved on from it now”.
Before giving him a two, Revel Horwood said of Skinner’s salsa on Saturday night: “It looked like you were competing at a weightlifting competition in Skegness, darling, it was all just powerlifts.”
Next week, the remaining 14 couples will take to the dancefloor next week in a Movie Week special, where each couple will channel a different film.
Strictly returns at 6.05pm on Saturday, 11 October on BBC One.
