Strictly Come Dancing hopeful Tom Skinner has revealed how his meeting the the vice-president of the United States over the summer led to a number of death threats being made against him
Strictly Come Dancing contestant Tom Skinner has revealed how his meeting with JD Vance led to terrifying threats being made against him. The former star of The Apprentice and the US vice president enjoyed a dinner together during the politician’s recent trip to the UK.
However, Tom, whose views online have been seen as controversial, admitted a lot of people were unhappy with his liaison. The duo met for a barbecue in the Cotswolds in the summer, with Tom proudly posting a snap of the pair on his social media.
But this incensed online users, and Tom has revealed the shocking extent of the backlash. He claims he received a number of death threats in the aftermath, with people saying he was a political figure.
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Tom, though, insisted he has no interest in politics and could explain what was happening in the world if he was asking. “Now the left seems to be attacking me every day on social media,” he said.
Speaking to The Sun, he continued: “The right seems to see me as this figurehead and it’s all been a bit much for me, if I’m honest with you.
“I was getting death threats and people calling me controversial. I was thinking, what have I ever done? What have I ever said that’s controversial?
“When you actually go through my tweets, apart from saying that knife crime is bad in London, yeah?”
And he also said he had been receiving death threats for years before he added: “I didn’t see it as anything more than a barbecue, if I’m honest with you. But I’ve been turned into this political figure that I’m actually not.”
Despite accepting the invitation to the barbecue with Vance – and happily posting an image of the pair – Tom admits he had been nervous about the meeting. But it was more to do with what clothes he should wear rather than any potential backlash.
Opening up on he meeting, Tom labelled the politician “a normal bloke”. “We spoke about English cheese being so much better than American cheese, West Ham United and how they call football ‘soccer’.”
And even though their time together came with a huge uproar on social media, Tom said he has no regrets about the interaction. Instead, he labelled it an amazing opportunity to dine with one of the most important figures in the world.
He revealed it didn’t matter what the vice president’s views are and whether he believes in them or not, it was a “wow” moment in his life.
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