Strictly's Thomas Skinner opens up about affair and marriage recovery

Thomas Skinner has opened up about how his extramarital affair, just weeks after his wedding, shook his marriage to his beloved wife Sinead.

The charming mattress salesman admitted to a brief relationship with aesthetician Amy-Lucy O'Rourke, which she alleges lasted for three months. Thomas' confession, he says, has deeply affected Sinead, the mother of his three young children.

Speaking last night, 34 year old Thomas confessed: "It wasn't difficult for me because I know the mistakes I've made in my life, but it was awful for my poor wife to read it all, and that's why I feel bad... My whole life has been dug up and regurgitated and my poor wife has to read something that she has moved on from.."

This is the first time Thomas has publicly discussed at length the fallout from his admission, made just weeks before his debut on Strictly Come Dancing. Amy has given her side of the story, insisting that Thomas, from Romford, east London, downplayed the affair and had introduced her as his girlfriend.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Thomas added: "It took a long, long time for her to forgive me and we have worked at it. I will never say I'm perfect but it was hard seeing my wife relive all of this. But she said that it wouldn't break us, it wouldn't ruin us. She told me that she loves me to pieces and I love her."

Sinead is expected to be in the audience at Strictly's Elstree studios every Saturday until her husband's departure from the competition. In the interview, Thomas referred to his wife as his "rock" just hours before performing his Paso Doble to Hotei's Battle Without Honour or Humanity.

He is partnered with Amy Dowden, who had to withdraw from last year's series after six weeks due to a foot injury.

"My wife is my rock and I love her to absolute pieces. I made a mistake. I'll hold my hands up and we have moved on from that. We moved on from that as a partnership... We have built a better life. Sinead is my best mate. Now she is so invested in my Strictly journey, she is cracking up that I am doing this," said Thomas, who appeared on The Apprentice in 2019.

Despite not winning The Apprentice, Thomas' charisma earned him accolades from Lord Alan Sugar, who described him as the kind of chap you'd want by your side in the trenches. However, Thomas has stirred controversy, not only for his affair but also for his divisive social media posts to his millions of followers.

These include videos of his breakfast indulgences or "proper bit of grub", as he refers to it, which the father of three often enjoys at Dino's Cafe in Leyton, east London.