It’s usually a dull affair. As the new class of Strictly come together to meet the press for the show’s annual media launch, the spread of ham sandwiches, Greek salad and pesto pasta is usually as exciting as it gets.
In contrast to the glitzy opening night of the BBC’s flagship dance show, this event was held in a blacked-out room – complete with sequin disco ball and tables sprinkled with Haribo sweets for some 25 journalists – at Elstree Studios. It had all the charm of a conference room in a regional Travelodge.
Perhaps it was all the more understated this year as a result of the string of scandals that have engulfed the Saturday night favourite.
I had feared it would be a struggle to fill column inches from the five-minute ‘interviews’ I was allowed, alongside two other journalists from rival publications, given this year’s Strictly intake is less than stellar.
But about 15 minutes in, the mundane event suddenly switched to controversy – and I found myself with a ringside seat. Thomas Skinner, the former Apprentice contestant and friend of US Vice President JD Vance, stormed out of the event after a very public meltdown. His exit left the Strictly press team stunned – and scurrying after him.
Indeed, it had all started so well. After being introduced by the BBC’s Head of Entertainment Kalpna Patel-Knight, Skinner, wearing his trademark gilet and flat cap, began to talk to magazine journalists on a table a few feet away from mine.
My comrades interviewing him said he was happily chatting away. He beamed from ear-to-ear as he told them how much he had enjoyed his first day training with his professional dance partner.
A horn blown by one of the many Strictly PRs sounded to signify the end of his five minutes on that table, and he moved on to the next one. It was on this – the second of seven tables he was meant to grace that day – that he was asked the question that riled him so much there are now question marks over his place on the show.
An unassuming journalist simply asked: ‘Are you afraid of being “Strictlyfied”?’ A new term, coined perhaps by the reporter herself, but with a meaning that was not hard to decipher – it alluded to his career ending in tatters after appearing on the show as per the likes of Wynne Evans and Giovanni Pernice.
Undoubtedly sensitive to the idea that it could have a negative impact on his career, given the already mounting attention since his meeting with Vance at a barbecue last month, Skinner fell silent.
According to another journalist, he then refused to engage for the remainder of the five minutes allotted to that table, forcing journalists to direct their questions to the other Strictly contestant with him, former Chelsea footballer Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Then the horn blew and 6ft Skinner was ushered over to me, flanked by the most senior member of the Strictly PR team who was put in place to ensure all ran smoothly. Skinner stretched out his hand to shake mine and said: ‘Nice to meet you mate.’ He then introduced himself to the two other journalists on my table before he sat down.
All seemed well as we settled in, and the first journalist asked Floyd Hasselbaink how he was coping with training. But while Jimmy answered, I could see Skinner wasn’t concentrating. He seemed distracted.
And as a female journalist asked Skinner, ‘What made you say yes to this amazing opportunity?’ he picked up her phone. Seeing that he was being recorded – standard journalistic practice – he bellowed, ‘What’s that?’
As he scrolled through her phone, tapping the screen on her personal device, she asked: ‘What are you doing?’ and made a plea to the BBC PR, telling him, ‘I’m just recording him.’
Skinner attempted to retrieve her phone. A brief tussle ensued, before he told the table of journalists, ‘I’m not doing this!’ – and fled from the event.
I was completely stunned by what I had just witnessed and watched as Strictly’s press chief attempted to chase him.
I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the struggling press team who were hoping for a low-key event, but instead had to slip off to try to locate Skinner who seemingly could not be found and was refusing to come back to take any more questions.
A little under 24 hours later, Skinner broke his silence on his meltdown. In a statement issued on social media, he said: ‘To set the record straight off the back of yesterday. During one of the interviews, a journalist placed their phone on the table to record the conversation.
‘I happened to catch a glimpse of the screen and saw numerous messages – not about Strictly, but about a personal story from my past. In that moment, seeing it there caught me off guard. I felt it was best to step away and gather myself.’
Skinner also apologised to the journalist, who works for The Sun.
It is obvious to me that Skinner is under enormous pressure with his very active social media accounts. His political views have certainly divided the public with his fans admiring him for taking Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to task as he labelled London as ‘hostile’, ‘tense’ and ‘not safe out there’.
He has also been pictured with a Make America Great Again cap and boasted of his patriotism.
He has become a cult hero for his cheeky chappy persona. Documenting his ‘hard day’s graft’ fuelled by enormous full English breakfasts on video, always accompanied with his catchphrase ‘Bosh’.
But despite the pressures of Strictly fame, his behaviour on Tuesday was unacceptable and quite frankly frightening.
His fury seemed to go from zero to 60 in a matter of seconds and he let himself down.
The BBC now has serious questions about his future on the show and whether this is the sort of behaviour they will be forced to contend with for the rest of the series.
I also fear for his professional dance partner, whose name I cannot divulge for risk of breaking the BBC’s strict embargo. He is paired with one of the less brash women on the show. If he can’t control himself in a straightforward press interview, I worry she will be subjected to the same quick temper.
Mind you, the whole saga does leave me scratching my head. When the BBC signed up their most controversial contestant in years, what exactly were they expecting? Not this, it seems.
