Thomas Skinner, the 34-year-old star of Strictly Come Dancing and former The Apprentice contestant, has been accused of failing to repay a £50,000 taxpayer-backed loan taken out during the Covid-19 pandemic. The loan was part of the government's bounce back loan scheme, designed to support struggling businesses.
Company filings for Skinner's business, the Fluffy Pillow Company, show assets jumping from £1,301 to £51,301 between 2020 and 2021, with no evidence of repayment in the latest publicly available statement from 2022. According to loan terms, repayments should have started within 12 months.
In his 2023 autobiography Graft: How To Smash Life, Skinner boasted about the success of his businesses during the pandemic. He wrote: 'The company grew quickly after I finished The Apprentice and did very well thanks to massive demand during the pandemic when everyone had money to spare and plenty of time to spend in bed.'
Skinner also claimed in a December 2021 post that he had turned over £1.8 million in one year with his other business, Bosh Beds. However, he quit as director of that firm in November 2022, and Companies House has issued four notices to liquidate it due to lack of activity.
Discussing the business failure on a podcast, Skinner said: 'Yes…I had been taking a lot of money. I was in a state.' He added that he kept staff on and tried to keep things going. Now selling mattresses from his van, he recently posted on X: 'I finished me Strictly stuff earlier today and I'm now out in me van delivering mattresses.'
Skinner has faced controversy since joining this year's Strictly line-up, including criticism over his association with US Vice President JD Vance and an admitted affair. He has accused faceless accounts of trying to ruin him. Metro has contacted his representative for comment.
