'I've never even danced at a wedding' - Pete Wicks

Jowita Przystał in a grey dress and Pete Wicks in a grey T-shirt and black trousers with their arms spread during their dance. Floor spotlights are visible in the background, behind grey steps.
Image caption,

The dancing pair finished the week on 22 points, one point ahead of Punam and Gorka

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Essex reality TV star Pete Wicks, who has made it through to week six on Strictly Come Dancing, says he had never even danced at a wedding before doing the show.

The star of The Only Way is Essex (Towie) and his dance partner, Jowita Przystał, performed the Rumba to the Oasis song Don't Look Back in Anger' on Saturday.

In an interview with BBC Essex, Wicks admitted he felt like he had been on borrowed time for the first four weeks and could not believe he was still in the competition.

"It's unbelievably hard. It's one of the hardest things I've ever done," he said.

Pete also revealed he had never seen Strictly before becoming a contestant on the show.

He said it was "the steepest of learning curves possible - I'd never even danced at a wedding.

"It just wasn't something that I thought I would be interested in."

The 36-year-old said he was not ready to go home and he was loving his experience on the show.

He added: "It's mentally more tiring than it is physically, and I thought that would be the opposite.

"I'm aching in places that I didn't even know could ache."

Image caption,

Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał collected 29 points for their quickstep in week four

Wicks also appeared on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins this year for a second time, after withdrawing in 2022 when he broke several ribs.

He acknowledged that both shows were very difficult and joked that he did not know why he kept doing them.

Pete and Jowita finished third at the end of week five after Paul Merson and Karen Hauer were voted out.

The Halloween special begins this week and is live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Saturday 26 October from 18:25 GMT.