Katherine Ryan takes aim at Strictly contestant Thomas Skinner for claims wife has ‘forgotten’ he cheated

Comedian Katherine Ryan has hit out at Strictly Come Dancing contestant Thomas Skinner over his “inflammatory” claims that his wife Sinéad has forgotten he cheated on her shortly after their wedding.

The former Apprentice star, 34, last week admitted to having a “fling” with an “attractive” single mum who gave him free cosmetic treatment after meeting at a pub in 2022.

Skinner advised anyone who has made a mistake to “be honest and own up to it”, and said he and his wife “we are in an incredible place. It’s forgotten about and we’ve moved on from it now”.

Ryan took issue with Skinner’s remarks and claimed that the betrayal may still linger in his partner’s head.

“I promise you, your wife has not forgotten,” she said on her Telling Everybody Everything podcast, adding Sinéad was in a “vulnerable” place at the time of the affair as she was raising their son Henry, five.

She continued: “There's also the layer of shame. A lot of women in this scenario absorb a man's shame as their own.

“This woman's young, she loves him. It's so complex when you're betrayed like that, especially when it comes out of absolutely nowhere. You think you're in a good relationship.”

Katherine Ryan has hit out at Thomas Skinner over claims his wife has forgotten his affair (Getty/BBC)

Ryan theorised the affair would always be in the back of Sinéad’s mind and speculated that she would have been concerned the private matter would come to light when Skinner signed up for Strictly.

The comedian branded Skinner “hypocritical” for preaching about his “conservative values” and “family unit” online, knowing that he’d been unfaithful to his partner.

“I don’t believe people should be professionally ‘cancelled’ for cheating but there is extra intrigue when someone cheats when associated with a mainstream ‘family’ show,” she added in an Instagram caption.

Skinner has drawn previous criticism for X/Twitter posts saying it is “not far-right” to be “flying your flag and loving your country”, and claiming London is “hostile”, “tense” and “unsafe”.

The former Apprentice star was also pictured alongside US vice-president JD Vance at a BBQ this summer.

BBC director general Tim Davie has defended the decision to cast Skinner, telling MPs from the Culture, Media and Sport committee last week that the casting team chose contestants who they believe will be interesting to the audience.

He said: “Clearly, we wouldn’t take anyone whose views are just beyond the pale, or we would see as completely unacceptable or not suitable, racist views, all those things, we wouldn’t accept them.”