He and Jessica Wright kept TOWIE fans gripped during the last series with their ‘will they/won’t they?’ relationship, and Pete Wicks has opened up about her exit from the show.
At the end of series 16, he and Jess clashed over her drunken snog with co-star Lewis Bloor – and hunky Pete thinks the situation actually did them a favour.
_Pete and Jess are still good friend_s
Speaking exclusively to Closer Online, he explained: “I’m so glad all of that’s over. It was kind of an eye opener for me and Jess, and we both realised, despite the chemistry, it was never going to go anywhere.
“It’s nice that we’ve remained friends and I still speak to Jess. She’s going to make an amazing girlfriend to a lucky guy. The whole situation just showed Lewis Bloor for what he really is.”
Pete and the gang recently returned from filming the series 17 special in Gran Canaria, and there were two noticeable absences.
He explained: “It was nice to go somewhere different, but we’ll always love Marbella. It was weird because it was the first time we went away without Jess and Ferne [McCann].
“Obviously without Jess there was nobody for me to flirt with, and Ferne is such a funny girl and such a big character. They were definitely missed.”
Discussing newcomers Courtney Green and Chloe Meadows, Pete teased there might be some clashes with the other girls in the beginning.
“I think some of the cast haven’t taken to them too much,” he said. “But I think you’ve got to give them a chance. It’s quite hard because everybody is so close.”
He added: “There might be a few issues initially with the other girls, but perhaps over time Chloe and Courtney will integrate.”
The Only Way Is Essex continues Wednesday at 10pm on ITVBe.