Strictly Come Dancing’s Thomas Skinner has addressed rumours that he abruptly left a press interview ahead of the BBC show’s launch. The former Apprentice star was reported to have walked out of a press event at Elstree Studios on Tuesday (September 9), where he and his fellow Strictly stars were speaking with entertainment journalists.

It was suggested that after reaching a second group of reporters, he only stayed for a few moments before muttering: “I’m not doing this” and leaving. On Wednesday (September 10), Thomas took to Instagram to clarify the situation, stating: “To set the record straight off the back of yesterday. During one of the interviews, a journalist placed their phone on the table to record the conversation. I happened to catch a glimpse of the screen and saw numerous messages – not about Strictly, but about a personal story from my past.” He continued: “I’ve been through some difficult times in my life, which I’ve worked hard to move on from. In that moment, seeing it there caught me off guard. I felt it was best to step away and gather myself.

“This had nothing to do with the interviews or Strictly itself. I’m sorry I picked up someone else’s phone and I don’t even know if the journalist realised their messages were visible, and I don’t want to suggest any bad intentions on their part.”

Thomas expressed his excitement, saying: “What I do want to say is how excited I am to be part of Strictly this year. I’m so grateful for all the love, kindness and support I’ve been shown so far. It means the world to me, and I can’t wait to give it my all on that dance floor. Bosh.”

In response to the incident, the BBC shared a statement which said: “The BBC is very clear that any behaviour which falls below the standards expected will not be tolerated on our programmes.”

Thomas, set to compete against celebrities such as Dani Dyer, Alex Kingston and Ross King on Strictly, has become a controversial choice for the show, with some viewers criticising his previous social media posts.

Just before the press conference drama unfolded, BBC director-general Tim Davie defended his Strictly casting while speaking to MPs from the Culture, Media and Sport committee.

“That was not my decision, that was the production team looking for those people… who want to do Strictly, and those people they thought would be interesting to the audience,” he clarified.