Originally meeting over 10 years ago at the Specsavers Awards, reality TV icons Pete Wicks and Olivia Attwood initially bonded over their similar senses of humour before cementing their friendship on The Only Way Is Essex.
Pete, 37, shares, ‘We were sat together on a table and spent the entire night just chatting and abusing each other, really.’
Olivia, 33, continues, ‘And then I joined TOWIE, which he was thrilled about! Actually he was, because he had no friends at that point so he was delighted to have someone to film with.
‘And then she moved on to bigger and better things within about three or four hours,’ Pete adds. ‘So it was a fleeting visit, but she caused enough drama during that fleeting visit for me to think, “Yeah, she’s all right.”’
By the time Liv joined TOWIE in 2019, having made her name on the third series of Love Island, Pete had already earned himself a reputation on TOWIE as a ladies’ man after dating Jess Wright, Megan McKenna and Ella Rae Wise on the show.
More recently, however, fans have been privy to a softer side of Pete thanks to his successful stint on Strictly Come Dancing last year – finishing fifth with partner Jowita Przystal, who he was frequently linked to before his relationship with I’m A Celeb’s Maura Higgins came to light.
Pete and Maura, 34, reportedly dated for several months last year after first being spotted packing on the PDAs in August 2024. Their split was announced in January 2025 amid reports that Maura had become suspicious of Pete after seeing messages from other women on his phone – something neither of them have publicly commented on.
Pete also demonstrated that he was a big softie with For Dogs’ Sake, in which he immersed himself in the world of dog rehoming. The series saw him compared to the late, great host of For The Love Of Dogs, Paul O’Grady.
And Pete’s own rescue dogs, Eric and Peggy, were also a source of bonding for him and Liv – who is mum to Carpathian-German Shepherd Dog cross Lola and a Rottweiler called Stitch, both also rescues – but the pair are hilariously unable to go on dog walks together due to the differences in size and temperament of their pooches.
‘We have slight issues based on the fact that her dogs are small horses and I’ve got a dog who’s a loaf of bread with legs and one who’s incredibly disruptive,’ jokes Pete.
Olivia adds, ‘My Rottweiler would literally get on with anyone, but then Lola, the Carpathian Shepherd, if a little loaf of bread started barking at her, she wouldn’t like it.’
Luckily, something the dynamic duo are able to do together is head on a big night out, but woe betide anyone who tries to keep up with them!
Liv explains, ‘We’re a good time, but it’s not entry-level stuff – you need to know how to throw it down to keep up. Me and Pete, it’s always a good time because we’re just having fun.’
Also, it’s got better because we don’t do it as much now as we’ve got older,’ Pete adds. ‘Because we used to go out quite a lot and we were quite wild, I suppose.’
Olivia continues, ‘The TOWIE days, you’re doing a lot of waiting around, and you do a lot of nights out just for the sake of it, don’t you? It’s like, well, you’re already out! Whereas now, we plan it more.’
Much like Pete, Liv is currently building a TV empire with her reality show Bad Boyfriends – now casting for its second season – and several feature-length documentaries including The Price Of Perfection, which focuses on the rise in cosmetic surgery.
There's also a hugely successful documentary series, Filthy Rich, now in its third season, which sees the former grid girl exploring the intricacies of people making money from their sexuality.
And after Pete suggests that no one else could host Filthy Rich nearly as well as Liv, she says, ‘I actually believe that I was born without the ability to feel uncomfortable. I love provocative people, I love people who push the boundaries in whatever sense that is because I think life is so boring.
‘So when you meet genuinely interesting people who are so unapologetically themselves, even if I wouldn’t do it myself, I find it really liberating to see other people live their lives the way they want to.’
Now, after 10 years of supporting each other in their solo ventures, Pete and Liv have joined forces for The Sunday Roast – their brand-new radio show, which airs on KISS. Every Sunday afternoon, the pair play their favourite tracks and hilariously roast each other.
Pete concludes, ‘I think this is the perfect thing for us to be doing – I’m really excited. It’s a new thing for both of us, and to do something new with a really good mate of yours is exciting.’
Listen to The Sunday Roast with Olivia Attwood and Pete Wicks on KISS every Sunday at 2pm.