Former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Thomas Skinner has claimed the BBC rigged the vote that saw him leave the show.
The social media personality alleged in an online post that the night he left the competition he was sent an “anonymous email claiming to be from a BBC exec with stats” that showed he had “received far more votes than it appeared”.
He went on to say the email also claimed the BBC was “angry” and “nervous” over his meeting the US Vice-President JD Vance.
It follows reports Skinner is suing the BBC over claims the vote was rigged against him. A BBC spokesperson rejected the allegation, saying Strictly’s public vote was “independently overseen and verified to ensure complete accuracy”.
They added: “Any claims to the contrary are entirely without foundation.”
PromoVeritas, the company which verifies the show’s public vote, said all the votes it receives are “validated” and “independently and comprehensively verified by two auditors”.
It is understood the BBC is not aware of any legal complaint over the matter.
Skinner was the first celebrity contestant to be voted out in this year’s series.
Ahead of Saturday’s final – which sees former contestants return – he announced he would not be attending.
“I spoke with my lovely dance partner, Amy Dowden to make sure she was okay with me not attending,” he wrote in a lengthy post on X, explaining he was commenting publicly “so people know the truth” regarding his absence.
“I don’t want people thinking I am bitter when I ain’t.”
Skinner claimed he had the authenticity of the alleged email from a BBC executive “independently verified”, though it is unclear how he did so.
He said he had asked to see the official voting tallies “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”.
He added that there were “smaller things” that added to the feeling of “how unfair it all was”, such as his welcome gift to the show being the only one that “got stolen apparently”.
The BBC spokesperson said Skinner had yet to share the email with anyone from the broadcaster “despite requests for it”, and so they were unable to comment.
They added that the Strictly team “categorically did not supply ‘welcome gifts’ to any of the cast”.
Skinner first hit TV screens on The Apprentice in 2019, and has since appeared on shows including 8 Out of 10 Cats, Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, Good Morning Britain and Celebrity Masterchef. He is also due to appear on Celebrity Apprentice this Christmas.
He is also known for his social media videos encouraging people to think positively, which typically end with a trademark “bosh”.
But he has attracted criticism in recent months for meeting Donald Trump’s vice-president over the summer and being pictured wearing a Make America Great Again cap.
Skinner stressed in his post that he was “not a political bloke”, adding: “I just love my country and am patriotic.”
He said he had a “private” Zoom call with BBC executives on Wednesday about “going forward” that had been leaked and was “national news” by the following morning.
