Thomas Skinner has been backed by hoards of supporters following Saturday’s Strictly Come Dancing launch show after some viewers continued to criticise his involvement.

Ahead of next week’s first live show of the series, Mr Skinner joined his fellow 14 celebs for the launch, where each one discovered which pro partner they’d been paired with for the series.

For The Apprentice star, it was Amy Dowden waiting for him, with both of them looking elated to finally come face to face ahead of the new series.

However, despite the jovial manner between Mr Skinner and Ms Dowden, as well as his enthusiasm to be taking part in the show, he still faced complaints from certain Strictly fans.

Mr Skinner has faced his fair share of backlash from the fandom since his unveiling, whether it be due to his patriotic views or his political takes online.

He also hit headlines when a former “fling” came forward with details of an affair with Mr Skinner from three and a half years ago.

Mr Skinner has addressed all of the contentious issues head-on, sharing apologies where necessary and taking full accountability for all the “mistakes” he’s made in his past.

But that’s not been enough for the baying mob who returned to social media on Saturday to continue their onslaught. However, this time, Mr Skinner’s supporters hit back.

Taking to X, several Strictly viewers and Mr Skinner fans urged the mattress salesman to ignore the naysayers and embrace the glitz and glam of the ballroom.

On X, one fan reached out: “@iamtomskinner ignore the haters, tonight Tom. You’re already Doing Phenomenal #Strictly.”

A second playfully added: “My predictions for this year. Tom Skinner to win 󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #Strictly,” followed by a smiling emoji and England flag emoji.

“Up the #Strictly!! Good luck Tom. You’ve got my vote,” a third added while a fourth typed: “Well done, pal. Was funny to see you on it. Have fun with it. Enjoy it, mate. #Strictly. @iamtomskinner.”

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Taking aim at the backlash, a fifth fan quipped: “You can almost hear the lefty meltdown across the UK. Go on @iamtomskinner BOSH #Strictly.”

And a sixth pointed out: “If Tom Skinner had been left wing, X would have been totally different in their reactions #Strictly #StrictlyComeDancing.”

A seventh similarly shared: “The amount of c**p he is getting and comments saying ‘right wing get him off, Farage lover’ – we need to keep Thomas in. Can’t stand the show but will vote from afar.”

“Haven’t watched #Strictly #StrictlyComeDancing for years. But will stick with it while @iamtomskinner is on it,” another fan applauded. (sic)

While some Strictly fans may not want to see Mr Skinner progress in the competition, it’s safe to say Ms Dowden is loving the partnership.

Shortly after the launch show aired, Ms Dowden, who had to withdraw from the series early last year due to injury, admitted it’d been “lovely” working with the former Celebrity MasterChef contestant.

“The news is out!” Ms Dowden penned to her 704k Instagram followers: “@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! 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,” she signed off.

And Mr Skinner reciprocated the kind words. “Let me introduce you to an absolute legend, me partner for Strictly Come Dancing,” he said in his own post.

“The lovely @amy_dowden – We ain’t stopped laughing since we met, and she is teaching me the moves which you’ll see at the end of the video.

“Honoured to be doing Strictly and I’ll be posting lots of behind the scenes videos. Honestly, never fort I would love dancing as much as I am! Enjoy. Bosh.” (sic)