By Nicola Methven

Copyright mirror

He’s a self-styled real-life Del Boy, a cheeky chappy market trader who relies heavily on his everyman appeal. But last night, as Thomas Skinner suffered the humiliation of becoming the first contestant to leave Strictly Come Dancing , it was clear the public weren’t nearly as keen on the pillow salesman as he thought. The former contestant on The Apprentice, paired with pro Amy Dowden , got his marching orders in a unanimous decision after losing in the dance-off to rugby player Chris Robshaw , And his departure means that Skinner’s attempt to represent all “the dads with beer bellies” had spectacularly backfired. For the 34-year-old, who clearly believed he was going to be kept in the competition by votes from his adoring public, that’s got to have hurt. Bosh! On Saturday night’s live show, he and Amy danced a salsa to the Dizzee Rascal track Bonkers, with the bedding boss doing very little in the way of dancing and an awful lot in the way of hoofing Amy around. “You looked like you were competing in a weight-lifting competing in Skegness. It was all just power lifts,” judge Craig Revel Horwood complained to Skinner, noting that his timing was “completely off” and that he “lacked any hip rotation”. The kinder judges on the panel were politely dismissive, with Motsi Mabuse branding the effort “interesting” and Shirley Ballas sighing: “Well, you gave it a go.” He scored a total of 13 points, putting him lower even than Ross King – who previously notched up the lowest score in more than 20 years, but who this week managed a 15 for his waltz with Jovita Pryzstal. So you’ve got to wonder – was it just the terrible dancing that stopped the BBC viewers at home from voting for Skinner? Or could it be that his behaviour and reputation have put people off? After all, in the past few weeks it’s emerged he not only had an affair just after marrying his wife Sinead in 2022, but he’s also failed to repay a £50,000 Covid loan taken by one of his pillow firms, of which he was the sole director. News of his cheating came to light after he stormed out of the press launch for Strictly last month, having seen that one of the reporters involved in the interviews knew about the affair. Snatching her phone, he later apologised, saying: “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.” While he tearfully claimed that the fling had lasted just a fortnight, the other woman – a beautician called Amy-Lucy O’Rourke – gave her own account and said it had actually gone on for three months. “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 claimed afterwards, branding him an “absolute troll”. She added: “He 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. You don’t even know the half of what I went through, the tears I cried. So 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.” Last week the Mirror exclusively revealed that one of Skinner’s firms has not paid back a £50,000 Covid bounce back loan – despite the star boasting about turning over “millions” during the pandemic. Hardly in keeping with the good, honest grafter image he has been at pains to portray in the daily videos he posts of himself eating hot dinners. And then there’s the right-wing views he spouts on social media about immigration and benefits, followed by the moans that, in response to these toxic opinions, he’s been targeted by the “tofu-eating woke brigade”. On top of all that, there’s the photo of him cosying up to JD Vance, President Trump’s deputy, which rather confirms where his views lie. So quite a lot, all told, for the public to object to. Essex-based Skinner has long built up the image of being a working-class lad who’s just saying what every other bloke in the land is really thinking. In fact, prior to the competition starting, the dad-of-three said he’d been inundated with fan-praise. “I went to West Ham last week, and at least 500 people were queuing up to have a selfie or to wish me good luck,” he insisted. “There were people going, ‘I’ve never watched Strictly before, but I’ll watch it because of you.’ I’m going to do it for the dads with the beer bellies.” But in reality there weren’t enough of them to make a difference because maybe, whisper it quietly, he doesn’t actually represent their views at all. His fate was sealed during last night’s results show when the judges’ scores were added to those of the previous week to give each contestant an overall result. Skinner, who finished 7th on series 15 of The Apprentice , has now finished 15th in series 23 of Strictly Come Dancing. Asked by Tess Daly about his time on the show, he 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.” Amy, who last year had to pull out of the competition with a broken foot just months after finishing treatment for breast cancer, suggested that those who questioned why he’d been invited onto the show in the first place had misunderstood what Skinner is about. “I’ve got to know the real Tom, and he is adorable,” she insisted. “He’s looked after me. 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. I’ve made a new friend for life and I wouldn’t change a thing.” She admitted that having two Latin dances in the first two weeks had not helped him to shine. “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.” – Strictly Come Dancing returns for Movie Week at 6:05pm on Saturday 11 October. Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .