The signs that we are heading towards Christmas are all around us, with the shops filling up with festive treats, the Christmas adverts starting to appear on the telly (I saw my first one of the season last week), and of course, the return of Strictly Come Dancing!

I’ll admit that I've never really got into Strictly, but this year I saw a few people I like on the line-up and thought I would invest some of my Saturday nights seeing how they do. I’m a big fan of the TV show Neighbours, which is sadly coming to an end on Amazon later this year, but I was pleased to see actor Stefan Dennis, who has been on the show for decades, joining the Strictly line-up — and watching him and Dianne Buswell dance to the Neighbours theme tune in the first week was a real treat.

Then there’s Tom Skinner, who turned out to be the first star to leave the show. I love his cheeky chappy attitude, and from seeing him on The Apprentice, I had a feeling we’d be seeing him again. I did wonder how long he’d last on Strictly, although his “bonkers” dance was certainly memorable!

Emma and I had a chance meeting with Tom recently at Kempton Park Market, of all places. We were having a wander round the Thursday market when we heard that familiar voice. Tom and his dance partner Amy Dowden were filming on a mock Strictly-inspired stall. The idea was that Tom was introducing Amy to his world of market trading. We asked Tom for a selfie and he was happy to oblige!

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen Tom in person, however. In 2019, Lara and I saw an email asking if we’d like to be in the audience for the filming of a “major prime-time TV show” at Thorpe Park. The details were sketchy and we were never officially told what the show was, but the free entry to Thorpe Park swung the deal!

On the day, as we went round the park and saw the camera crews and people in suits, we guessed it might be The Apprentice — though this was never confirmed officially. When we saw Karren Brady walking past us, it became obvious!

At the 4D cinema, which was usually reserved for Angry Birds, we took our seats and watched what turned out to be the contestants pitching for the rollercoaster task — and one of those contestants was, of course, Tom Skinner. Nobody knew who he was at that point.

After that episode aired, Lara was recognised by a staff member in M&S who’d seen her in the audience of The Apprentice! We, of course, did that thing where you pause the TV to get photos of your moment of fame — and we were thankful to Alan Sugar for feeding us all pizza on the day!

Listen to my Radio Woking shows on Sunday, 9am to noon, and Wednesday, 7pm to 9pm. Email me at [email protected], or send me a voice note via www.speakpipe.com/jonandrews