Thomas Skinner issues promise to Amy Dowden amid Strictly debut backlash

Strictly Come Dancing contestant Thomas Skinner has made a firm promise to dance partner Amy Dowden - after fans suggested there is tension between the pair. Saturday night saw the return of the long-running dance contest.

The launch episode revealed which celebrities were paired with which professional dancer. And for Apprentice star Thomas, 34, he was paired with Welsh dance star Amy, 35, who has come back to the show after fighting cancer.

After the pairing was shown on screen, Amy took to social media to express her happiness about being paired with the reality star. On Instagram, she shared her official couple photo showing her and Thomas in shiny dance outfits.

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In a gushing post, she wrote: The news is out! @iamtomskinner and I are excited and working hard rrrrrready for the first live show next Saturday! Tom is working so hard and is loving learning to dance ( more than he ever imagined). We are laughing lots too!"

She added: "Honestly Tom it’s been so lovely getting to know the really lovely, bubbly, full of life you this week. Thanks for a great week and so looking forward to our strictly journey ahead! Let’s do this."

Thomas appeared touched by the post - and vowed to work hard for his dance partner. He wrote in the comments: "Reallly really enjoyed training with you this week. You are honestly an amazing person and everything you have been through…. Shows how strong and inspiring you are."

He continued: "I promise I won’t let you down. I might not be the best dancer. But I promise I’ll be the hardest worker. Thank you for being so kind and lovely to me and I’ve enjoyed your company so much. I ain’t stopped laughing with ya."

He concluded: "Can’t wait to get on that dance floor with ya next week. Bosh."

The exchange came after the pair were revealed to be working together as dance partners for the new season. While the launch episode was airing, some viewers were convinced they saw tension between Thomas and Amy.

During the episode, host Claudia Winkleman asked the reality star what his dream breakfast would consist of. He responded: "The best breakfast. We're going down Deano's cafe, nice and early, before we get started, get spicy Korean noodles, with chicken breasts and poached eggs and a little bit of Tabasco sauce.

He continued: "Or, if you don't fancy that, we can have the sunshine chicken curry with the round chips."

During his description, viewers noticed Amy recoil and she quipped that they would need to dance closely together during their time on the show - and shared a fear his breakfast choice could lead to bad breath.

But he quickly brushed off the concern and vowed to use checking gum to keep his breath fresh.

Last year, Amy was forced to drop out of Strictly when she was paired with JLS star JB Gill due to injury. She had returned to the show after battling breast cancer for the previous year.

Meanwhile, Thomas fuelled headlines this week when he admitted he had cheated on his wife. He confessed to The Sun: "'I had a fling. It was nothing more than that. It was the one time, it was a mistake. I woke up feeling absolutely terrible about it.

"I felt so guilty. I told my wife. I let her down in that brief moment of madness where I wasn’t thinking, where I didn’t appreciate what I had. When I told my wife, I fully understood if she was to never speak to me again. No one else made me do what I’ve done. But it just shows something so brief could ruin your life."

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