The wife of Strictly’s Thomas Skinner has revealed she was so heartbroken by his affair that she kicked him out of their house.
Opening up for the first time about their turbulent marriage, Sinead Skinner told the Sun it has made them stronger - but her husband’s stint on the dance show has brought chaos into their lives.
Thomas, 34, faced “more than 200 death threats” when his friendship with American Vice-President JD Vance was revealed, which only intensified when his affair went 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, previously a PA at an archaeology firm and now a full-time mother to four-year-old Henry, and two-year-old twins Roma and Darla, filled in Thomas’s paperwork for The Apprentice, paving his way to fame.
She also supported him taking to the stage on Strictly.
Thomas told The Sun in a sit-down interview: “I said to her, ‘I don’t think I should do it’.”
Disagreeing, Sinead says: “But I didn’t think the response from him doing it would turn out like this.”
Thomas calls her “super sensible Sinead”, as his wife is pragmatic, honest and supportive. He says she has been there for him as the abuse from social media trolls has grown.
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.”
Opening up from their Essex home, the pair admit they were “naive” about the level of scrutiny and abuse they’d face when Thomas went on Strictly.
Thomas, who is 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?
“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.”
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.”
Sinead encouraged her husband to report the abuse to the police, but Thomas chose to ignore it.
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 said he had seen suggestions that BBC bosses had become sick of the attention he was getting.
Thomas and Amy danced to Bonkers by Dizzee Rascal, and there have been talks of a “fix”, when he became the first contestant to be voted off the show.
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.”
Thomas starred alongside four other celebrities on the show - actress Amber Davies, actor Lewis Cope, former England footballer Karen Carney and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey from Gladiators.
Thomas said: “I thought the Strictly judges would look at how much I improved.
“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.”
Friends of the star who work in the gambling industry said they have taken over £1million in bets for him, and believe he could’ve gone further if the vote had been up to the public.
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.”
The show dropped inches from Skinner’s waistline too - the training saw him drop a stone in just two weeks.
Speaking of his newfound love for the show, he 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 confirmed he has been asked to return for the show’s finale, and Sinead plans to buy him dance lessons for Chrismas ahead of his return.
She said: “I would love for him to show off with Amy. She is so lovely. The kids adore her too.”
The videos of Thomas are some of the most viewed on Strictly’s Instagram feed. He has since received more offers of work for TV and adverts.
He credits his wife’s support throughout the process. 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.”
