A woman who says she had a three‑month affair with Strictly Come Dancing contestant Thomas Skinner has told the Daily Mail the relationship began just weeks after he married his wife, and that he convinced her they were in love before leaving her heartbroken.
Amy‑Lucy O'Rourke, 35, described a relationship that started after Skinner, 34, visited her clinic for a body‑sculpting treatment on June 12, 2022 — three weeks after he married Sinead on May 21. O'Rourke said Skinner told her he was in a loveless relationship and repeatedly professed love for her, while at times introducing her in public as his girlfriend.
O'Rourke said the relationship grew from a friendship into a romantic involvement over several months, with late‑night messages, dates and physical intimacy. She told the newspaper Skinner ordered flowers to her clinic, stayed at her home, cooked for her, took her to restaurants and introduced her to friends. She said he told her he had never felt like that about anyone and that he had told his wife he was unhappy.
Skinner has been a high‑profile figure since appearing on The Apprentice and has attracted renewed scrutiny this autumn after storming out of a BBC press conference for Strictly. The BBC show, which returns to air this weekend, has been navigating controversy in recent years, and the disclosures have already drawn attention from producers.
In an interview published Sunday by The Sun, Skinner described the episode with O'Rourke as "a two‑week fling" and "a mistake," saying he felt "so guilty" and that he had told his wife. O'Rourke disputes that account and said the relationship lasted three months and was emotionally consequential.
O'Rourke said she first met Skinner through mutual friends and that he began speaking to her during long treatment sessions. "He told me I was the love of his life and sold me an absolute dream," she told the Daily Mail. "He told me he was in a loveless relationship of convenience. We were originally friends but with his sweet‑talking and his lies, he made me believe we were in love." She said Skinner would say things such as, "Look, we'll be Mr and Mrs Skinner."
According to O'Rourke, Skinner messaged her eight days before his wedding and contacted her again eight days after the ceremony. She said he told her he had to marry because his wife's family would "kill" him if he did not — a claim she later discovered to be untrue. She said he also persuaded Sinead that messages and pictures O'Rourke sent were fabricated on an app.
The relationship began to fray in July 2022, O'Rourke said, when Skinner attended a friend's wedding he had told her she could not attend because his wife would be there. She said he reassured her by text while at the event. Days later, at a dinner at Sushi Samba in central London, O'Rourke said she checked Sinead's Instagram and found a picture of Skinner and his wife at the wedding, with his wedding ring on. She said she confronted him, that he was intoxicated and abandoned her at the restaurant.
The confrontations continued. O'Rourke provided text messages in which Skinner allegedly wrote on July 22, 2022: "I f***** up, I love you. My head has gone." She said he returned the next morning and banged on her door; she said she later smashed his car windscreen in anger and has Ring doorbell footage of the incident. She said Skinner later returned to her life, apologising and saying he had been in the wrong, before she severed contact and blocked him.
O'Rourke said the episode had lasting consequences. She told the Daily Mail she neglected her business while seeing Skinner, lost sleep and appetite, and remains emotionally affected three years on. "I feel manipulated, stupid and disappointed in myself," she said. "I couldn't eat, sleep or run my business. What he did to me was unhealthy and cruel." She added she felt sorry for whoever will be partnered with Skinner on Strictly and for his wife.
Skinner told The Sun the encounter was a single mistake and that he had confessed to his wife, saying: "It was the one time, it was a mistake. 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." He described the episode as a lapse in judgment and downplayed the duration reported by O'Rourke.
Strictly producers have in recent seasons faced scrutiny over off‑screen behaviour by contestants and the programme's handling of alleged controversies. Skinner is among the celebrities announced to appear on the upcoming series, and his presence has prompted coverage as the show prepares to reveal professional dance partners and open the new season.
Representatives for Skinner and for the BBC did not immediately respond to requests for further comment. The Daily Mail report said Skinner was approached for comment; he gave comments to The Sun acknowledging the incident as a mistake. O'Rourke said Skinner was approached for comment on her account and that he had sought to minimise the relationship in his own media statements.
The accounts provided to the press present conflicting timelines and characterisations of events. O'Rourke emphasised that she had kept messages, photographs and video that she said corroborated her version of the relationship; Skinner described the encounter as brief and expressed remorse in his interview with The Sun. Both the personal turmoil described and the public attention come as Strictly Come Dancing prepares to launch another season this weekend.