Who is Pete Wicks? Meet Strictly Come Dancing 2024 contestant and TOWIE star
Pete is the second reality star to join this year's cast.
Pete Wicks has kicked off his Strictly journey on characteristically cheeky form, raising eyebrows with a joke at the expense of fellow contestant Jamie Borthwick.
The television personality is known for his role on ITV reality series The Only Way is Essex (or 'TOWIE'), which has led to numerous other gigs including Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins and The Underdog: Josh Must Win.
Now, he's hoping to lift the coveted Glitterball trophy, teaming up with professional dancer Jowita Przystał, who stormed to victory with Hamza Yassin in her very first year competing on Strictly Come Dancing.
Last night, on Strictly's eventful opening show, he assured viewers that he was fully committed to the competition, joking: "I’m never going to be here again, unless I’m Jamie."
The light-hearted jab refers to Borthwick's previous appearance in the Strictly studio for last year's Christmas special, which he won with Nancy Xu – but can he pull it off again?
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The Strictly Come Dancing 2024 line-up also includes fellow reality star Tasha Ghouri, plus Dr Punam Krishan, pop icon Toyah Willcox, opera singer Wynne Evans, comedian Chris McCausland and JLS star JB Gill.
Read on to find out more about Strictly Come Dancing contestant Pete Wicks, including what he has said about joining the line-up.
Who is Pete Wicks?
Age: 36
Job: TV personality
Instagram: @p_wicks01
Pete Wicks is a reality TV star best known for his time on the ITVBe series The Only Way Is Essex. He appeared on the series from 2015 to 2022 and has appeared in multiple reality series over the years.
Most notably, he has taken part in Celebs Go Dating, Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins and The Celebrity Circle. He has also appeared on CelebAbility, Celebrity Juice and The Real Full Monty.
As of 2024, Wicks appeared on Channel 4's experimental new show The Underdog: Josh Must Win alongside Nick Grimshaw, Vicky Pattison and Amber Rose Gill.
He also co-hosts the Staying Relevant podcast alongside Sam Thompson, which has had over five million downloads to date.
What has Pete Wicks said about Strictly Come Dancing?
In a statement, Wicks said: "Dancing live in front of the nation every Saturday? Absolutely terrifying. But anyone who knows me knows I love a challenge and trying new things, so I'm genuinely looking forward to getting stuck in."
The news was announced on Kiss FM's Breakfast Show in which he revealed that when he told best friend Sam, he cried!
"I am not even joking," Pete explained. "He screamed and jumped up and down and cried and planned that every Saturday he will be at the show."
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Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this autumn.
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