By Liam de Brun

Copyright manchestereveningnews

Thomas Skinner has admitted that his family were left ‘gutted’ by his Strictly Come Dancing exit as he said that he was ‘not good enough’. Former Apprentice star Thomas, 34, and professional dancer Amy Dowden , 35, became the first couple eliminated from the BBC One dance show during Sunday’s (October 5) results show. After the judges’ scores from the first two live shows were combined with the results of a public vote, the pair found themselves in the series’ first dance-off against Chris Robshaw, 39 and Nadiya Bychkova, 36. Performing the Salsa to Bonkers by Dizzee Rascal, the judges voted unanimously to send Thomas and Amy home as they preferred Chris and Nadiya’s Viennese Waltz to Die With A Smile by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. The series marked Amy’s return to Strictly after she pulled out through injury while paired with JLS singer JB Gill, 38, last year having missed the season prior after sharing her cancer diagnosis. Appearing on Strictly spin-off series It Takes Two on Monday night (October 6), Thomas and Amy spoke to Janette Manrara, 41, in their first interview since being sent home . Asked how his family have reacted to the news, Thomas initially joked that he ‘hasn’t told’ his children; son Henry, three and twin daughters, Roma and Darla, two. “They’re gutted. They were watching on Saturday and Sunday night, they were gutted. They can keep on dancing,” he said. Saying that he was ‘loving life on the programme’ in spite of not being ‘the best dancer’, Thomas received some words of praise from Amy. “I am so impressed, an absolute beginner in terms of the entertainment world… the performances you pulled out I was so proud. I also saw the development. “We had so much fun. Who would have thought that Thomas Skinner would have fallen in love with dancing, especially the Salsa,” she said, to which Thomas cheekily replied with a laugh: “We did a Salsa? Noting that he wasn’t ‘nervous’ at being in the dance-off, Thomas said he ‘knew what to do’ due to practising the routine with Amy ‘so many times’. “I was second from bottom and I do move like a fridge. Let’s have it right, I was trying but I wasn’t good enough,” he stated. Asked by Janette what advice she gave Thomas for the dance-off, Amy said: “I just kept reminding Tom to give it his all but ultimately have fun and really enjoy it. It’s like what Craig said, there’s not a lot technically you can do the moment before.” Repeating that Strictly is ‘a dancing competition’, Thomas teased that he ‘wanted to be bad at other dances as well’. “I’m lucky to be here, lucky to meet Amy. I have a new friend here, my family loves her and it’s been a great experience,” he said.