Pete Wicks has opened up about the Strictly Come Dancing comments that “tainted” his experience of the show.
The Only Way is Essex reality star appeared on the latest series of the BBC dancing competition and made waves by sailing through to the semi-finals, despite receiving lower scores from the judges.
Wicks, 37, avoided the dreaded dance-off until his final week on the show; his survival led to outrage from a contingent of viewers who were frustrated that “better” performers were getting eliminated before him.
The reality star and podcast host acknowledged that, while he received some “beautiful” messages from his fans during his time on the series, he also received “horrendous” abuse, which he described as “heartbreaking”.
He previously revealed he received death threats for remaining in the competition at the expense of other contestants.
In a new interview, he said: “I’ve learnt you shouldn’t take too much interest in the good stuff or listen to the bad stuff, but normally I’m in control of the narrative. This was me at my most vulnerable I’ve been on television, so the negative stuff was harder to take.”
He also said that headlines claiming that he was having an off-screen romance with his professional partner Jowita Przystal, damaged his experience on the show.
“Absolutely nothing was going on,” he told The Times, adding: “The headlines were adamant, even after we told everyone we were just friends.
“But Jowita was a really amazing, beautiful person. One thing I’ve taken away from Strictly is a friend for life in her, but the way the press banged on about us tainted some of the experience.”
Wicks described Strictly as “one of the best things I’ve ever done”, but admitted: “I absolutely still can’t dance. I’ve never even danced at a wedding or in a bar. I’ve two left feet and no rhythm whatsoever. I can’t even clap to a beat. But I do like learning, and being taught by someone who’s a world-class expert in what they do was absolutely priceless.
Chris McCausland made history to become the first blind contestant to win Strictly, beating fellow finalists JB Gill, Sarah Hadland and Tasha Ghouri to lift the Glitterball trophy.
Wicks, addressing his own surprise at making it as far as he did, said at the time: “I feel like [viewers] may potentially be playing a cruel joke on me, but I couldn’t be more thankful. I am so humbled by it, honestly.”
