Amy Dowden was “gutted” that Thomas Skinner missed the Strictly Come Dancing final on Saturday night. The professional dancer, 35, and The Apprentice star, 34, became the first couple eliminated from the BBC One show, but both were scheduled to return for the finale – which witnessed Karen Carney and Carlos Gu claiming the Glitterball Trophy.
But Thomas declined to participate in the final – allegedly due to plans to take legal action against the BBC regarding his premature departure from the programme – leaving Amy on her own.
Speaking on Lorraine, she said: “Last time I spoke to him was on Thursday, he didn’t mention it. He sent me some messages.
“To be honest, I was just gutted Thomas missed out on what was an incredibly fun, exciting final. I would have loved for him to be there.”
Amy explained her “mind was elsewhere” during that period as she had suffered a personal loss.
She went on: “I was really upset on Thursday and still am. I lost somebody who was like a second dad to me – my dance teacher.
“He passed away on his wife’s birthday. Phillip Perry. I owe my entire dancing career and everything to him. He was more than a dance teacher to me and my twin and my family.
“Do you know what, so my mind was elsewhere.”
This follows claims that Thomas intended to pursue legal action against the BBC, allegedly believing the voting had been “rigged” to ensure his early elimination from Strictly – allegations the corporation has subsequently refuted.
Thomas maintained he had “received an anonymous email” alleging his Strictly departure “wasn’t right”, though stopped short of confirming any potential legal proceedings against the BBC.
In a post shared on X, he said: “On the night I left the show, I received an anonymous email claiming to be from a BBC exec with stats, saying I’d received far more votes than it appeared and it wasn’t right. I’ve since had the email independently verified.”
Thomas claimed he had requested access to the official voting statistics but was denied.
He continued: “I have asked to see the official voting figures to back up the ones I was sent in the email but was told they couldn’t be shown to me. And have never been shown in the history of the show.”
The reality television personality alleged it was the BBC’s own welfare team who recommended he pursue legal counsel regarding his Strictly exit.
He stated: “I have spoke about the email I had received to senior people and the BBC welfare team, who btw I genuinely respect. And they was the ones who advised me to get legal advice because of how unfair it all was. (This was not my idea).(sic)”.