JD Vance found time during his vacation in England to hang out with a former star of The Apprentice who was once sentenced for handling stolen goods.
Thomas Skinner, who appeared on the 2019 season of the British version of The Apprentice, uploaded an image on X which he said showed himself “after a few beers” with the vice president, who is on a British countryside vacation turned diplomatic expedition. In the picture, the TV personality has his arm slung around a smiling Vance, who is in casual clothing.
“Here is a pic of Me and Vice President @JDVance towards the end of the night after a few beers,” the 34-year-old posted.
“I’m overdressed in my suit, but when the VP invites you to a BBQ, you don’t risk turning up in shorts an flip-flops. Cracking night in the beautiful English countryside with JD, his friends and family. Once in a lifetime,” Skinner added, signing off with his catchphrase: “Bosh.”
In a separate post, he said Vance, 41, was “a proper gent,” and said the evening was “one to tell the grand kids about.” The pair finally met in person, after growing into transatlantic allies over X.
The catchphrase “Bosh” and his happy-go-lucky, cheeky-chappy demeanour endeared Skinner to the public when he took part in the fifteenth season of The Apprentice. He was fired by the show’s host, Lord Alan Sugar, in week nine.
Skinner, a bedding salesman and market trader, had overcome a criminal past to make it onto the show. In 2011, he was convicted of handling nearly $55,000 of stolen goods, including 4,992 tubes of Body Shop cleansing gels. He was also in possession of 2,000 diazepam, or Valium, pills.
Skinner has been candid about his past on social media, revealing that he’s been arrested several times. “Yes I did get arrested when I was younger, in fact I get arrested several times. And been charged and paid the price for my convictions [sic],” he wrote on X in February.
In 2019, he told MailOnline: “Many years ago before I had my business, when I used to work on the markets, I was young and naïve and brought stock from a source that I didn’t know. I wasn’t aware that the stock was stolen and paid the consequences for the mistake I made.
“That is now well in my past, and I have had a string of successful companies since then. I now only buy from trusted sources and I employ five people. I was put in situations I didn’t fully understand when I was younger, but they have made me the man I am today. My past is my past, I am now a changed man.”
A BBC spokesperson told MailOnline at the time that Skinner passed a background check ahead of his appearance on The Apprentice.
While yet to make a foray into politics, Skinner has been vocal about issues he sees as afflicting the U.K. Vance has shown an increasing interest in British right-wing politics, including the Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, whom the VP met for breakfast on Wednesday.
Skinner, meanwhile, developed a relationship with Vance over social media.
Skinner, who donned a MAGA hat in a post in June, won the support of Vance after Skinner complained on X about being labeled “far right” by the left in a wider screed about his defense of “traditional, hard-working, family values.”
He added that he had received “death threats” and “vile comments about my children.”
Vance came to the rescue, offering words of solace by sharing a picture of a slothlike man at a computer from South Park. “Hang in there, my friend. Remember that 90 percent of people attacking your family look like this,” Vance wrote.
The barbecue comes amid Vance’s vacation in the Cotswolds, an area of natural beauty popular with A-listers in south west England. The trip has been met with a flurry of opposition, with locals slamming Vance with placards and billboard posters featuring a chubby version of his face in meme form.
Representatives for Vance and Skinner have been contacted for comment.
