He has been the long-time close friend of fellow reality star Vicky Pattison since the pair crossed paths on the showbiz circuit in 2016. And now, former TOWIE star Pete Wicks reveals that he has been assigned the all-important role of flower girl for her upcoming wedding to Ercan Ramadan.
Revealing how she convinced him to say yes, Pete says, “I’ll tell you how Vic ropes me into doing anything – I love her and basically whatever she asks me to do, I generally do. I’m wrapped around her little finger. It’s a f***ing nightmare. But I’m really excited about [being flower girl]. I adore the girl.”
Pete, 36, and Vicky, also 36, have joined forces with Amber Gill and Nick Grimshaw on the panel of brand-new reality show, The Underdog: Josh Must Win, where a group of wannabe reality stars have been led to believe they are competing in a popularity contest called The Favourite. But unbeknownst to the hopefuls, it’s the panel’s job to exhaust all their efforts to ensure that the participant named Josh must win, without blowing their cover.
“It was probably one of the most draining experiences of my life, in the best way,” Pete says.
“I cannot believe how emotionally invested I was in Josh’s story. I think [the show] is going to surprise a lot of people and change the way they see reality TV. The four of us had such good chemistry
– the perfect panel, effectively.”
Pete found fame on TOWIE back in 2015 and lasted seven years on the popular reality show before calling it a day last January. He quickly became known as the Lothario of Essex, having a series of relationships with co-stars including Jess Wright, Megan McKenna, Shelby Tribble and Chloe Sims.
In dramatic scenes which aired in September 2020, it was unveiled that close friends Pete and Chloe had been seeing each other in secret for two years.
“I can’t be in a relationship, I can’t give you what you want and I can’t give you what you deserve and I know that,” he told her in the emotional chat.
Since then, the podcast host has kept his love life under wraps, and now hints to Closer that he is single, much to the delight of his best friend Sam Thompson and girlfriend Zara McDermott.
“I keep my dating life away from everyone!” Pete laughs, adding, “To be honest with you, everyone thinks that me, Zara and Sam are in some sort of weird throuple, so I think they’d get jealous if I actually started dating anyone. It’s really weird – I’m basically like Sam’s bit on the side.”
Pete and former Made In Chelsea star Sam struck up a friendship when they starred on Celebs Go Dating in 2018, and it wasn’t long before the reality stars became best friends. The pair now document the highs and lows of fame on their popular podcast Staying Relevant, and I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! fans were swooning over their bromance last year when Pete surprised Sam in the jungle before he was crowned King.
Pete recalls, “Australia was in one word, horrific. Sam said, ‘You don’t really get much time off. You can treat it as a bit of a holiday – when you’re out there, you can go and do whatever you want to do’. What he didn’t tell me was that I was going to be getting on a bus at 4am every morning and going into the camp just in case he came out, so it wasn’t really much of a f***ing holiday!
“But I’m so proud of him. Everyone got to see what an annoying, painful but lovable, hilarious and genuinely kind person he is.”
When Pete greeted Sam on the bridge after the final, he made headlines for his “swollen” features, which turned out to be the result of a “mosquito attack”.
Discussing the pressures that men can face in the public eye, he says, “I think people, unfortunately because of social media, look at everyone else and compare themselves. My management, funnily enough, keep telling me I’ve got to sort myself out because I look about 900 years old. But I am what I am – there’s not much I can do about that!”
Meanwhile, Pete and Sam are weeks away from taking their podcast on tour after the tickets sold out in 18 minutes.
And the former TOWIE star reveals he has big nights out planned, saying, “I think Sam will be in bed as soon as it finishes, FaceTiming his cats. I, however, will be out because I think that will be my release from spending so much time with Sam. You’ve got to have a little break from him now and then. Otherwise, there’s potential for me to genuinely murder him.”
The Underdog: Josh Must Win runs from 25 March, 9pm, E4. Stream on Channel 4