Kerry Katona has criticised Strictly Come Dancing contestant Thomas Skinner after he grabbed a journalist's phone and stormed out of an interview during the show's press launch. The former Apprentice star, 34, was at BBC's Elstree Studios this week when he took a reporter's phone after noticing it was recording him.
According to reports, Skinner was being interviewed alongside fellow contestant Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink when a female journalist asked what motivated him to sign up for Strictly. Spotting the phone on the table, he demanded, 'What's that?' before picking it up and leaving the interview.
Writing in her column for new! magazine, Katona said: 'I read last week about the drama during the Strictly press launch, where Thomas Skinner... stormed out after getting angry at a journalist recording him. Whatever was going on behind the scenes, I think that’s a bit ridiculous! That’s what happens at press days.'
She added: 'I worked for years to get to where I am, so have always been humble and nice to people doing their job, but sometimes overnight celebrities haven’t had that same journey.'
Skinner later addressed the incident on Instagram Stories, explaining he saw messages on the journalist's phone about a personal story from his past. He apologised for picking up the phone but insisted it was not related to Strictly. 'I’m sorry I picked up someone else’s phone and I don’t even know if the journalist realised their messages were visible,' he wrote.
