Tom Skinner from The Apprentice found a lot of life after the show thanks to his social media presence – which was smattered with callings of “bosh” and hefty meals down at Dino’s Cafe. There was a lot of positivity to Tom Skinner that people related to – he portrays an everyman persona built around a hard day’s graft, getting up early and working with a permanent happy demeanour. But yet, recently, there has been a pivot for Tom Skinner on social media that has been building steadily since 2024 and now his presence online is widely criticised for comments that suggest a pivot to right wing populist values. This has culminated in the situation right now: Having a BBQ with Vice President JD Vance, the culmination of his recent support for Donald Trump and the Republican Party. As his Twitter grows, so do his more jarring statements. What was once cheery messages of breakfast and having a good day now nearly always have a political undertone. What shifted on Twitter for Tom Skinner that The Apprentice candidate has moved from beloved and jolly presence to accusations of being a “right wing grifter”, acting pally with JD Vance?
He was a popular everyman on The Apprentice
Via BBC
Tom Skinner was popular on The Apprentice both with viewers and Lord Sugar. Everyone responded well to his charming wheeler dealer, East End London cockney charm demeanour. After the show, he’d often go viral when the show was on as people would make memes of how good he was at selling. He built a strong social media presence off the back of this, growing his Twitter following slowly but surely.
He now has over 410,000 followers.
2024 signalled a content shift
Over the past year, Tom Skinner has repeatedly posted comments that people have clocked on Twitter as a shift to what some have deemed “right wing grifter” content – in the vein of fellow Apprentice alum Katie Hopkins. Albeit with a cheerier veneer. He vocally supported Trump in 2024, he claimed Sadiq Khan had “ruined” London in his time as mayor. He spoke at the Now & England conference which was organised by Conservative leaning voices in the UK, where he made populist comments like “London has fallen”. He started guesting on GB News.
The past few months, it’s increased
Here is a pic of Me and Vice President @JDVance towards the end of the night after a few beers
I’m overdressed in my suit, but when the VP invites you to a BBQ, you don’t risk turning up in shorts an flip-flops
Cracking night in the beautiful English countryside with JD, his… https://t.co/HQGtaIY6fD pic.twitter.com/QOkL813qoR
— Thomas Skinner
(@iamtomskinner) August 12, 2025
Tom Skinner announced on Twitter he’d been for a BBQ with JD Vance and said they had a night together in the countryside whilst Vice President Vance was in the UK. Skinner has also been claiming that he loves “winding” up “oat milk latte” drinkers on Twitter, clearly a dig at “woke” and left leaning posters, saying “It’s mad how much I wind up the nutters on here. I just say ‘good morning you lovely people’ and they’re calling me a grifter and start ranting about fascism before they’ve even had their oat milk latte. I genuinely don’t actually understand what half of these things they’re saying mean. The helmets.”
He’s also confessed to using ChatGPT to format his tweets due to his dyslexia. Skinner also has been posting so much about how his engagement on Twitter is up – which has people calling out this pivot in content shifting towards the right on Twitter as being an example of Tom Skinner building engagement and debate on his platform.
It’s all very different to how he was best known on the show. His Instagram platform is very different – more similar to his old way of posting. Where his Twitter / X account seems to lean more into the content the platform is better known for since Elon Musk took over.
The Tab has reached out to Tom Skinner for comment.
For more like this, like The Tab on Facebook.
