STRICTLY star Thomas Skinner’s wife has revealed she was so devastated about her husband’s affair she made him leave home.
Speaking for the first time about their marriage struggles, Sinead says it has made them stronger — but appearing on the dance show turned their lives upside down.
Thomas Skinner and wife Sinead were horrified with the abuse Thomas received while taking part in Strictly[/caption]
Sinead said they’re become stronger because of their marriage struggles[/caption]
Sinead admits she asked Thomas to leave the family home when he revealed his affair[/caption]
Thomas received “more than 200 death threats” as a backlash grew over his friendship with American Vice-President JD Vance before revelations about his cheating also became public.
Sinead says: “When he first told me what had happened I made him leave. I was devastated.
“I will never forget Thomas telling me. I remember thinking, ‘I never thought this would happen to me’. It was one of the worst days of my life. I only told one friend, nobody else.
“But we eventually worked it out. I just knew how much I love him and I wanted to work it out.
“He made a mistake. It was a tough time. One of his friends had just died.
“It was four years ago. Now we are stronger than ever. We have moved on. He has learned from it and we have since had our twin daughters. But then, after he signed up for Strictly, it all came out in public. It has been hell.
“The response from Thomas doing Strictly has been a test for us all. It was horrendous. I cried — everybody knowing about this difficult chapter in our lives nearly four years ago was awful. It was in the past for us.”
Sinead, a former PA in an archaeology firm who is now a full-time mum to Henry, four, and two-year-old twins Roma and Darla, filled in the paperwork for The Apprentice — which is how market trader Thomas originally became a star.
And she encouraged him to do Strictly Come Dancing too.
Thomas said: “I said to her, ‘I don’t think I should do it’.”
Shaking her head, Sinead says: “But I didn’t think the response from him doing it would turn out like this.”
He dubs her “super, sensible Sinead” and as she speaks it is clear she is — and that they are a solid, loving team, constantly laughing and holding hands.
She has been there for him as the abuse has grown from trolls on social media.
Softly spoken Sinead says: “I know the real Thomas. I wish everybody else could see just how amazing he is.
“He is the love of my life, the best dad to the kids. He is usually fun, spontaneous and loving.
“I was OK, but I was so worried for him. He is a big softie at heart, lovable and caring.
“He’s usually upbeat, positive — but it all got too much.”
Speaking from their home in Essex, the couple admit they were “naive” when he signed up for the BBC dance show and unprepared for the scrutiny or abuse.
Thomas, who was paired with dancer Amy Dowden, said: “Strictly is a great show and I loved being on it. But there are parts of me that regret doing it because of what came with it.
“I loved the dancing, I really did. And I made a friend for life in Amy. But if I knew the amount of hurt it would bring to my family, I wouldn’t have done it.
“Financially, it was a good thing to do. The abuse was horrendous. I had about 200 death threats on social media.
“I remember one said, ‘I love Strictly. You’ve ruined my Saturday night. I hope you kill yourself before the live show’. Then it said, ‘I know where you live’. I didn’t deserve that backlash. For what? For being myself?
Thomas has refused to let the hate get him down[/caption]
“I’ve never said anything political. All I’ve ever done is say, ‘I’m proud of where I come from’.
“The abuse was awful. It was really wearing me out.”
Thomas tries to do the opposite on his social media and spreads messages of positivity to his 700,000 followers online.
He says: “I’m just a normal fella with a bit of a platform who tells people to believe in themselves — and I got attacked.
“I was the hero on the Apprentice and then the villain on Strictly. It has been a bad experience. I started to doubt myself for the first time in my life.”
VILE ABUSE
Sinead suggested calling the police, but he refused to worry about the keyboard warriors.
She said: “I looked at some of the comments, which were horrid.
“Then he told me about the one saying they knew where we lived.
“I said, ‘Can we report it, shouldn’t we report it to the police?’ He didn’t want to. He said it would be OK. How can strangers say such things? It got to him.”
Thomas, 34, has seen the suggestion from some online that BBC bosses grew sick of the attention on him too. He became the first contestant to be voted off Strictly.
There have been talks of a “fix” after he and Amy danced to Bonkers by Dizzee Rascal and Armand Van Helden.
Thomas said: “On Strictly, you don’t get to pick your own song or routine most weeks. On our second week we danced to Bonkers — and it was a bonkers song to dance to.
“I wish we had perhaps done something like a waltz, in a suit, an easier beat to follow. Then things may have been different. I just agreed to it. I work on market stalls and drive a van. I just agreed to whatever. Amy said, ‘Let’s just go for it’. And we did. I tried my hardest. I enjoyed it.
“I am gutted for Amy. I feel guilty she got lumbered with me, but we had lots of fun.
“And the trust Amy put in me was incredible. Doing those lifts, where if I’d dropped her she could have ended up paralysed — it felt like she really believed in me and I’m so happy we got to dance together, even for the short time we had.”
Four of the celebrities — actress Amber Davies, actor Lewis Cope, ex-England footballer-turned pundit Karen Carney and Gladiators star Harry Aikines-Aryeetey — had dance experience.
Thomas said: “I thought the Strictly judges would look at how much I improved.
COLD CRAIG
“I am not daft, I know I couldn’t dance yet, but I also didn’t know what a salsa was at the start. Then I was out there doing one with Amy live on Saturday night.”
Bookmaker friends of the star say they have taken more than £1million in bets for him, and he believes he could have gone further if it had been an entirely public vote.
He said: “Yes, I 100 per cent would be there. I was getting millions of views on my posts on social media — and many people were sending messages saying they’d voted for me.
“I don’t think Craig Revel Horwood liked me much. I saw him in the corridor and we didn’t say hello to each other. Then he gave me a score of two. All the other judges came up and said, ‘I’m gutted for you’, and gave us a hug. But I never spoke to Craig.”
In just two weeks, the training and lack of Peroni lager and kebabs has seen Thomas shed a stone.
But last night he and Sinead watched Strictly with a curry together. Thomas said: “I am now a fan. The other contestants were all great.
We are in a WhatsApp group. I’ve not been booted off that yet! I would like Vicky Pattison to win. She has been really supportive. I think she’s ace.
“I guess you could see it as a positive that I got paid for just two weeks and everyone else has to do more dancing for their money.”
Thomas has been asked to return for the final — and Sinead plans to buy him dance lessons for Christmas ready for his return.
She said: “I would love for him to show off with Amy. She is so lovely. The kids adore her too.”
Thomas can take solace in the fact clips of him were some of the most viewed on Strictly’s Instagram feed. He has since been offered more TV work and adverts.
But whatever he does, he will have “super, sensible Sinead” there for support.
She said: “It took so much courage for him to get up there and dance. I’m proud of him. I always will be, whatever he chooses to do next.”
Thomas, who found fame on The Apprentice, was a big character on the show[/caption]
