Bless Strictly's Pete Wicks; he's either receiving beige comments from the judges for his dancing or facing an endless barrage of fiery headlines speculating over his love life.
We've always had a soft spot for the TOWIE icon, and – at least from our camp – we can say that we only keep a close eye on his relations because we genuinely want this legend (who has a heart of gold, btw) to find love.
Naturally, speculation over whether Pete and his Strictly 2024 dance partner Jowita Przystał have become more than just dance partners is rife, no, downright feral, in the press and on social media, and despite headlines and fresh rumours doing the rounds virtually every hour, Pete has now officially confirmed the status of his relationship with Jowita on his good pal Olivia Attwood's podcast, So Wrong It's Right.
Never one to shy away from the controversial topics we all want to know about, Olivia flat-out asked the fellow podcaster, 'Are you and your dance partner romantically involved?'
Pete was clearly a little taken aback by Liv's bluntness, but the Love Island 2017 star reminded Pete that it's a fair question as 'most of [the couples on Strictly] cop off with each other.' That's our girl. And she's not wrong is she? It's called the Strictly curse for a reason.
Pete replied, 'No, obviously not,' stating, 'because we're dance partners.'
And although they may not be romantically involved, Pete clearly thinks the world of the Strictly pro, adding, 'She's amazing and I get on really well with her. She is honestly one of the nicest people I've ever met in my life. Point blank. I'm not even.
'It's unfortunate for her, because she's won the show before, and now she has to drag a corpse. But she's really positive, she's really nice, she's got a very good sense of humour, so she's the best person I could've been with, but it's not a romantic thing.'
To be fair, Liv has asked a totally valid question here - not only is this is a Strictly pairing involving two very attractive single people, but one of these people is Pete Wicks, and he has, erm, grown close to a fair few famous ladies during his time in the spotlight.
Seriously, since joining the cast of TOWIE back in 2015 he has been attached to the following telly queens: Jess Wright, Verity Chapman, Harriette Harper, Megan McKenna, Jacqui Ryland, Shelby Tribble, Megan Barton Hanson, Georgia Mullins, Chloe Sims, Ella Rae Wise, Jessika Power, Danielle Harold, Maura Higgins, and (apparently) definitely not Jowita Przystał.
And those are the ones we know about.
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Ben Pulsford is a digital writer for Bauer Media, writing for both Closer online and heatworld. When he's not getting paid to gossip about Big Brother, Love Island and The Real Housewives of Cheshire, he's storming the London LGBTQ+ scene as drag queen, Beary Poppins. Both Ben and Beary are awaiting an invite to join The Real Housewives of Cheshire for series 18. The budget's not there, but the drama is.