Strictly Come Dancing 2025’s ‘worst dancer’ pulls out of final

Another Strictly Come Dancing season is coming to an end, but there’s one notable face who will be missing from the Grand Finale.

After a tense semi-final dance-off, Balvinder Sopal and Julian Caillon bid adieu to the dance floor, leaving us with our three finalists: Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin; George Clarke and Alexis Warr; and Karen Carney and Carlos Gu.

The season has been filled with highs and lows, from Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman emotionally announcing their departure to Karen making history as the first footballer finalist.

On Saturday, another couple will hoist the Glitterball Trophy, and in a show tradition, the Class of 2025 will return for a live group performance, but the BBC has confirmed Apprentice star Thomas Skinner won’t be returning.

The controversial contestant, partnered with Amy Dowden, was the first to be voted out, and it is understood he won’t be returning to the dance floor on Saturday due to a prior commitment.

Pro-partner Amy will return and take part in the dazzling routine that will kick off the finale festivities.

Skinner’s time on the show was overshadowed by backlash from fans who criticised his association with right-wing figures like US Vice President JD Vance.

He also ended up in the centre of a press storm out and a cheating scandal in the lead-up to his tenure on the dance floor.

Some fans were left especially unimpressed with his dancing skills, with one Reddit user, Thick_Ad_8885, saying he appeared to be one of the ‘worst contestants on this show’ and didn’t seem to ‘really care about’ it.

After his short and turbulent time on the show came to an end, Skinner called out his critics in a lengthy X post and shared his regrets at ever joining the series.

‘I wish I never done Strictly, I never fitted (sic) the bill for that show let’s be honest. And it’s caused me nothing but agg. Constant abuse,’ he wrote at the time.

He will be back on reality TV, however, over the Christmas period, as part of the Celebrity Apprentice line-up. He first featured on the Lord Sugar reality show in 2019, where he finished in ninth place.

In the first episode of the star-studded special, he can be seen becoming visibly emotional as he returns to where his TV career began.

On the show, he said: ‘I don’t get upset really, it’s just I done this show six years ago, and this show changed my life,’ he said. ‘I’m back here.’

As for our Strictly finalists, Karen, George and Amber will perform three dances each before leaving their fate to the public vote.

West End star Amber has had an especially tricky time on the show after stepping in as a last-minute replacement for Love Island’s Dani Dyer after she got injured.

She has faced backlash for her dance experience, beating Lewis Cope in a dance-off and even had viewers claiming she copied a dance routine from The Great Gatsby Musical.

At a press conference ahead of the finale, attended by Metro, she reflected on the online hate she has received.

‘I have a lot of young women who follow me, and I didn’t know what my purpose was on Strictly until I realised that I was getting a lot of negative comments for being good.

‘I can’t believe I have to say this in 2025, but being ambitious as a woman, being confident, having dreams and working hard does not mean you’re stuck up. It doesn’t mean that you’re arrogant and I want to change that,’ she said.

Maintaining that she has ‘worked so hard’, she reiterated that ‘we live once’ and to not undermine yourself ‘to make other people comfortable’.

Strictly Come Dancing finale airs on BBC One at 7pm on Saturday, December 20.

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