Strictly Come Dancing star Thomas Skinner has admitted to cheating on his wife ‘weeks’ after their wedding.
Skinner, 34, rose to fame as an entrepreneur on the 2019 series of The Apprentice, where he finished in eighth place.
He soon found a fan following for his distinctive ‘bosh’ catchphrase and social media videos in which he shares his love of beer, kebabs and fried breakfasts.
In 2022, Skinner married wife Sinéad Chambers, with whom he already shared a two-year old son.
Sinéad, who later gave birth to identical twin girls in 2023, had initially convinced him to apply for The Apprentice after he had founded several businesses of his own.
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Ahead of his Strictly debut, Skinner has revealed how he cheated on his wife in a ‘two-week fling’ which occurred shortly after their wedding.
In an interview with The Sun, Skinner shared what had happened, describing the incident as ‘the biggest mistake of [his] life.’
‘I met her in a pub,’ said Skinner of the fling, which he shared with a beauty clinic manager and single mum, 35.
‘I had a fling. It was nothing more than that. It was the one time, it was a mistake,’ he continued.
Describing the aftermath, Skinner said: ‘I woke up feeling absolutely terrible about it. I felt so guilty. I told my wife.
‘I let her down in that brief moment of madness where I wasn’t thinking, where I didn’t appreciate what I had.
‘My wife is the best thing that’s ever happened. I’m so lucky she forgave me.’
Skinner described the moment he came clean to Sinéad as ‘terrible’ and ‘the worst thing I’ve ever had to do.’
The former Celebrity MasterChef star continued: ‘I’m a very, very open book and I don’t hide anything from my wife.
‘She was obviously distraught, upset. Didn’t think I’d do that to her.
‘When I told my wife, I fully understood if she was to never speak to me again.’
However, the pair were able to move on from his betrayal, even after what he describes as a ‘very, very dark time’ for their relationship.
Acknowledging that ‘no-one else made me do what I’ve done,’ he said: ‘It just shows something so brief could ruin your life.’
Prior to Skinner’s fling, a close friend named ‘Big Mark’ had died, leaving the future Strictly star ‘distraught.’
‘I’m not making excuses,’ he said. ‘I was just in a sort of mad headspace.’
He added: ‘The best advice I can give anyone is to be honest and own up. Because we are in an incredible place now. We are strong. It’s forgotten about.’
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Skinner’s fling partner told The Sun: ‘This has been an incredibly stressful chapter in her life.
‘She did not have a fling with Mr Skinner, she had a relationship with him.’
Skinner has proved a controversial name since news of his Strictly appointment broke.
Earlier this month, it was reported that he had ‘stormed out’ of a press event set up for Strictly 2025 after clashing with journalists.
At one point, Skinner is understood to have picked up a journalist’s phone from the table, before they eventually got it back from him.
What happened at the Strictly Come Dancing press event?
Metro understands that Skinner was being interviewed with football star Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink by a group of journalists at the time of the incident.
At one point, Skinner is said to have picked up a journalist’s phone from the table, before they eventually got it back from him.
The 34-year-old had yet to answer any questions when he abruptly left the interview, prompting Hasselbaink to follow him out of the room.
Yet it was only Hasselbaink that returned to complete the remainder of their interviews, with Skinner unavailable for any other journalists in attendance.
When Skinner first walked into the press room alongside stars including Dani Dyer and Vicky Pattinson, he was smiling and seemed in good spirits.
The Daily Mail has claimed that his actions ‘left organisers furious and BBC bosses in crisis talks over whether he should remain on the show’.
A source told The Daily Mail: ‘This is exactly what Strictly did not need. With all the recent controversy, bosses wanted this series to be smooth sailing, but Tom is already causing havoc.
‘It’s unprecedented for a celebrity to walk out of the show’s media launch day, and bosses think it’s really bad form.
‘If this is a sign of things to come, Strictly has a big problem.’
Last month, Skinner met with US Vice President JD Vance while he was on holiday in the Cotswolds.
Skinner previously expressed support for Republican candidate Donald Trump, saying: ‘I love Trump, I think he is brilliant, that’s my opinion. I think it’s good he is back in charge, it will be good for the UK economy,’ he said.
Skinner has also come under fire for ‘inflammatory’ remarks which include his describing London as ‘hostile,’ ‘tense’ and ‘not safe out there anymore.’
More recently, Skinner joked about how he is getting ‘ten grand’ for doing Strictly – a figure The Times noted ‘should not be taken as his full fee.’
‘But seriously, I’d do it for a tenner,’ he added.
Metro has contacted Thomas Skinner’s representatives for comment.
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