Thomas Skinner, a contestant on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, abruptly left the BBC’s annual press launch at Elstree Studios after an on-table confrontation in which he picked up a journalist’s phone and attempted to retrieve it, witnesses told the Daily Mail.
The incident occurred during a standard round of five-minute interviews in a dimmed room fitted with a sequin disco ball. According to the Daily Mail reporter who said they had a "ringside seat," Skinner had been speaking amiably with journalists before a question about whether he feared being "Strictlyfied" — a term suggesting a damaging effect on his career — prompted him to fall silent and disengage at one table. He later moved to another table, where the phone episode unfolded.
The Daily Mail account says Skinner, who wore his trademark gilet and flat cap, picked up a journalist’s mobile while she recorded the exchange. The journalist alerted a BBC public-relations staff member and attempted to retrieve her device, and the two briefly tussled over the phone. Skinner then stood up, announced "I’m not doing this!" and left the room. The BBC press chief followed, according to the reporter, and organisers spent time trying to locate him.
Less than 24 hours after the incident, Skinner issued a statement on social media acknowledging the episode and apologising to the journalist involved. He said he had seen “numerous messages” on the recording device, “not about Strictly, but about a personal story from my past,” and that seeing them "caught [him] off guard". He said he stepped away to "gather [himself]" and apologised to the reporter named by the Daily Mail as working for The Sun.
Skinner is a former contestant on The Apprentice and has run a mattress company, Bosh Beds. He has built a public profile through social-media videos using the catchphrase "bosh." He has also attracted attention for his political associations: reporting has noted he met US Vice-President J.D. Vance while Vance was visiting the UK and has been photographed wearing a "Make America Great Again" cap. The Daily Mail reporter said those elements have increased scrutiny of Skinner ahead of his appearance on the Saturday-night entertainment show.
The press launch was described by the Daily Mail reporter as more low-key than the programme’s televised opener, with around 25 journalists present and a spread of sandwiches and salads. The event is part of the BBC’s routine promotional programme; contestants typically rotate between tables to speak with magazine and broadcast journalists in short slots.
The Daily Mail account reports that Skinner had been "beaming" earlier in the event and had spoken positively about his first day of training with his professional dance partner. The name of that partner was withheld under the BBC’s embargo rules, the reporter added.
The BBC did not immediately publish a comment in response to the Daily Mail account. The programme has recently faced a number of controversies unrelated to this incident; the broadcaster has previously defended its casting choices in the face of public debate. Skinner’s social-media statement was the only public response from him within 24 hours of the press launch.
Journalists present at the launch said the episode raised questions about whether the show’s producers would need to address his conduct. The Daily Mail reporter said the suddenness of Skinner’s reaction — and the physical nature of the brief attempt to seize the device — left the press team stunned and prompted an immediate scramble to re-establish the schedule for interviews.
Skinner’s appearance on Strictly is scheduled to be broadcast as part of the new series lineup. The BBC typically operates on an embargo and has declined to name contestants’ professional partners ahead of programme recordings. Any formal action by the broadcaster or producers in response to the incident was not announced in the period immediately following the event.
This account relies on witness reporting by the Daily Mail and on Skinner’s own social-media statement. Further comment was not provided by the BBC or the journalist whose device was involved at the time of publication.