Pete Wicks reveals why he loves dating but isn’t ready for marriage

That's okay, we'd be happy with just a fling with this reality telly FITLORD

Pete Wicks

by Lily Smith |
Updated on

He’s one of reality TV’s biggest heart-throbs, despite his bad boy reputation and having his relationship breakdowns and cheating scandals played out on TOWIE.

But Pete Wicks tells Closer that lockdown – where he isolated alone with his two pet French bulldogs Peggy and Eric – has given him time to reflect on his life and his former playboy ways.

Pete Wicks dogs Instagram
Pete and his pups ©Instagram

Pete, 31, says, “In the past, I’ve felt pressure to settle down. I’m in my thirties now and I think there’s a general feeling you should be settled down with a girlfriend or whatever. That’s maybe why I’ve been in relationships in the past. But lockdown has given me time to realise that, actually, I’m really fortunate to have a good life, and I’m really enjoying it – things will come for me when I’m ready.

"As much as maybe one day I do want to get married and have kids, I’m not ready to do that right now. Lockdown has made me want to live for the now, to stop worrying about the future and just not to feel the pressure any more.”

Pete Wicks' relationship timeline from Jess Wright to Megan Barton-Hanson

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Pete Wicks relationship history

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Pete Wicks relationship history

He might be one of the most desirable men in tellyland but Pete's not got loads of proper relationships to his name (in fact, that makes sense). Instead he's got a string of romantic liaisons under his belt.

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Pete Wicks and Jess Wright

Way back in 2015, shortly after joining TOWIE, Pete and Jess struck up a romantic connection but their boat was rocked when she drunkenly snogged fellow cast mate Lewis Bloor. "I think after the whole Lewis Bloor thing, it kind of made me realise I don't want to fall out with her because I've always said I love her as a person. We nearly fell out over that,"said Pete at the time."But we're not really compatible relationship-wise. We'll always have a bit of chemistry but we're better off as friends."

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Jess Wright

Jess is the sister of TOWIE OG and household name Mark Wright, but has gone on to have a killer career of her own. She had some success as a singer after signing a three-single deal with All Around the World records and is now a popular Instagram influencer. In 2020 she announced she was engaged to her CEO boyfriend, William Lee-Kemp.

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Pete Wicks and Verity Chapman

Next of the TOWIE conquests was Verity Chapman, who joined the cast in 2015 and fell out with almost all the female cast, lasting on the show just a year. She did catch the eye of Pete though during her brief stint, and the pair were romantically linked after sharing a kiss.

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CREDIT: Instagram

Verity Chapman

Verity also briefly dated Made in Chelsea's resident lothario Spencer Matthews but is now loved up with a boyfriend out of the public eye. She runs Verity's Brow Bar in north London and is qualified in administering filler and microblading.

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Harriette Harper

Pete and Harriette dated before he entered the spotlight but she quickly followed suit, appearing on Ex on the Beach in 2017alongside Charlotte Dawson and even hinting she would love to join TOWIE. "If the situation was right and the storyline was right I would most definitely join TOWIE. I would shake it up," she said."It needs shaking up. It feels like the same old stories – she cheated on him, he cheated on her, blah blah… I feel like they need someone in there to rock the boat and I could do it."

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Pete-wicks-girlfriend

She's done the rounds in reality TV and was linked to Aaron Chalmers from Geordie Shore. However, she's now all loved up with boyfriend Taser Hassan and announced in 2020 that they are having a baby girl. She now has a son, Hudson, with Belle from Love Island's brother, Taşer Hassan.

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Pete Wicks and Megan McKenna

Arguably his most high profile relationship, Pete dated Megan for a year and a half in 2016 but their relationship turned sour - which was all caught on TOWIE for all to see. They eventually broke up after Megan couldn't get over infidelity claims with Pete reportedly sexting his ex and their relationship became 'toxic'.

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Megan McKenna

One of TOWIE's biggest stars, in recent years Megan has been focusing on her music career as she tries to carve out a space for her favourite genre, country, in the UK. She won The X Factor: Celebrity in 2019.And - PLOT TWIST - Megan also signed up to the Celebrity Dating Agency in 2019 where she filmed with Pete for the first time since their split and put their bad blood behind them. Meg is now all loved up with super secret boyfriend Josh Riley.

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Jacqui Ryland

The ex in question was Jacqui Ryland, an ex-glamour model. In 2017 she went public with sexts from Pete and said, "It was the whole thing about girl code."It wasn't about being fame-hungry...it was to tell Megan, 'Don't be fooled by all this'. I think from her point of view it was 100 per cent genuine, but from his, not so much."

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Jacqui Ryland

Jacqui now describes herself as a "fashion and fitness influencer" and has 108k followers on Instagram. She's a mum to two sons and a daughter, who she keeps off social media.

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Pete Wicks and Shelby Tribble

His next serious relationship was with another TOWIE cast member (and Megan lookalike) Shelby Tribble, who he dated in 2018. Following their split after Pete was (once again) caught sexting other women, Shelby said, "To be honest, I always felt like I was living in Megan's shadow, because when we first got together he used to mention her a lot."My relationships have taught me not to change who you are for a man."

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Shelby Tribble and Sam Mucklowe

Shelby is now happily loved up with fellow former TOWIE star Sam Mucklow and in 2020 they welcomed a baby boy Abel.

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Megan Barton-Hanson

Pete was linked to Love Island star Megan after the two of them reportedly disappeared together during a wild night out at a strip club while she was still with Wes Nelson. He was swift to slam the claims, though, saying, "Do you know what, it's so ridiculous. At the minute I seem to be getting links with a new person every week.""Obviously Megan's in a relationship, seems really happy, it's like a friendly thing. It's turning into a bit of a pantomime. It's just ridiculous. There's no truth in any of it. I just seem to get typecast as being some sort of pantomime villain at the minute."

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Megan Barton-Hanson

After breaking up with Wes, Megan went on to star on the following season of Celebs Go Dating where she found love with fellow celeb, TOWIE's Demi Sims. After that relationship broke down, Megan dated musician Chelcee Grimes and has most recently been linked to Pete's best pal James Lock ('Lockie").

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Georgina Mullins

Pete had some successful dates on Celebs Go Dating but shortly after starring announced he'd gone official with a girl not on the show, Georgina Mullins, after meeting on Instagram."I met someone recently who has been a bit of a game changer," he said. "I'm with someone now who is a lovely girl. She's not from Essex and I'm out of the game."We are dating exclusively and I am really, really happy. She's not like anyone I have dated before."The relationship soon fizzled out and Georgia has disappeared off social media.

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Chloe Sims

Despite always insisting they were just friends and telling Closer with his OWN MOUTH they'd never go there in 2019 (how could you, Pete?) in October 2020 it was finally revealed they'd been friends with benefits for TWO years but Chloe was left hurt after he admitted that he 'couldn't give her what she wanted'. The pair are no longer close.

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Pete Wicks

Following his on/off romance with Chloe, the long-haired lothario enjoyed a 'flirty friendship' with co-star Ella Rae Wise after lockdown in 2020. Despite the pair sharing a kiss, nothing came of their relationship. Ella said at the time, "When I said to the girls, 'We're quite flirty,' I think they took it as a little thing; they didn't realise how flirty we were. Even the show producers said, 'We can sit there and watch you look at each other.' He's got really good chat."

Pete rose to fame when he joined TOWIE in 2015, as co-star James “Lockie” Lock’s best pal. And since starring on the show, he’s dated Jess Wright, Shelby Tribble and Verity Chapman – as well as being at the centre of one of the show’s most scandalous storylines, when ex Megan McKenna caught him sexting other girls while they were a couple.

Having learned from his past mistakes, Pete is now single and happy to stay that way – but he can’t wait to go on dates now that lockdown has been lifted further.

He says, “I’m excited about seeing the people I love, about seeing my friends and family, and I’m excited to date, too. When am I ever not on the dating scene? It’s important to take time being happy in myself, and I’m not saying I need someone else to create my happiness, but I do love dating.”

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Despite missing his family, friends and dating during the pandemic, Pete adds that his dogs are what kept him sane – but he’s worried about the onset of abandoned pets as a result of lockdown.

He adds, “While what’s happened has been tragic, I was probably one of the only people who didn’t really mind lockdown too much. It was just me and the dogs and it was nice, to be honest. It was hard not seeing people, but I love just being with my animals. Without my dogs, I would’ve lost the plot.

Closer magazine July 2020
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“What worries me, though, is the amount of ‘lockdown pets’ there have been. People buying puppies and kittens has increased, because they’ve been working from home or have been a bit lonely. But that’s not a reason to get a pet – when things go back to normal, you still need to give that animal as much love and care, and some won’t be able to do that. I really urge people to think about the responsibility of a pet before they get one.”

Catch Pete on Celebrity MasterChef, Wednesday 22nd July, 9pm on BBC One

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