Strictly’s Pete Wicks is already the biggest winner of this series

Going into Sunday night’s Strictly results show, Pete Wicks was in danger.

Not only was he handed the ‘curse’ of being the first dancer of the night – which so far in this series has seen the performance chosen to kick off the show usually ending up in the dance-off – but he also found himself at the bottom of the leaderboard after fluffing his performance as Freddie Mercury for Icons Week.

Yet, despite this and making a series of mistakes, Pete narrowly escaped the bottom two.

Ultimately, after weeks of forgettable performances, Sam Quek was given the boot as the judges saved the dark horse of the contest, Montell Douglas. 

So if you needed any more evidence that Pete has already clinched the biggest prize on Strictly Come Dancing, this is it.

Though he’s not your conventional Strictly contestant, he looks set to be one of the show’s unlikeliest success stories. But why?

By the time Pete joined The Only Way Is Essex, the GC had already told James ‘Arg’ Argent he was never going to get her candy, Lauren Goodger had already pushed Mark Wright into a swimming pool and thanks to Joey Essex ‘reem’ was firmly in the English vernacular.

In short, the ITV2 series had already passed its peak.

However that didn’t stop Pete Wicks joining the third or fourth generation of cast members. 

He was introduced in Marbella as the best friend of James Locke and immediately became the show’s first tattooed ‘bad boy’ – quickly dubbed ‘Pirate Pete’ – cast to break hearts and cause a lot of drama. And he certainly didn’t disappoint.

There were moments when Pete was indefensible, like when his then girlfriend, Megan McKenna, caught him sexting an ex which ultimately ruined their relationship.

Or times where his fear of commitment was slightly unhinged – who can forget him secretly dating Chloe Sims for months, even getting a tattoo of her, but still refusing to call her his girlfriend.

Somehow, even at his worst, Pete was likeable. Even when he was living up to the image of a classic reality TV villain he had a charm which differentiated him from other toxic Towie men. 

He was never really engaged in rows with the cast in the same way as the others unless he’d been dragged into it. He was above the pettiness and had a quick wit, dry sense of humour and wisdom that at times felt out of place.

And unlike those co-stars desperate for 15 minutes of fame, Pete previously wrote in his book, For the Love of Frenchies: The Dogs that Changed My Life, that he just wanted the chance to be at home more so he could get a dog.

Pete quit Towie for good in 2023 and while he wasn’t the biggest character to come from the show by any means, he is by far one of the most successful. Better still, he has firmly established himself as being the antithesis of a toxic male.

In fact, the more he has distanced himself from Towie, the clearer it’s become he’s nothing like ‘Pirate Pete’ at all.

He currently hosts Staying Relevant – a podcast about the challenges of staying relevant in the public eye – with I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! winner Sam Thompson after they formed an unlikely friendship with each other on Celebs Go Dating. And the pair’s friendship is a real testament to brotherhood.

For a start they’re more affectionate than most couples and not afraid to be vulnerable, particularly when it comes to mental health. And Pete’s too-cool-for-school personality turns out to be pretty funny when blended with Sam’s unbridled enthusiasm for life, which helped him to become King of the Jungle in 2023.

Now on Strictly, he’s once again proven that, against people’s judgement, he doesn’t take himself too seriously.

When he waltzed on to the stage dressed as Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, rarely have you seen someone enjoying Strictly more. And any Towie fan will tell you they’d never imagine seeing the day Pete Wicks would be swinging around the ballroom in a loincloth dressed as Tarzan but lo and behold, here we are.

And while I am one of the many who have grown to love Pete, sadly his personality alone isn’t enough to take him all the way to the final.

At this point, Strictly Come Dancing is either Chris McCausland or Sarah Hadland’s to lose – and rightly so – but I don’t even think Pete has his eye on the prize. He just loves being there and each week he’s given blood, sweat and tears to deliver.

But nor does it matter if he makes it to the end. Like Mark Wright, Jamie Laing and AJ Odudu before him, he doesn’t need to win Strictly to be the contestant who will gain the most from it. 

AJ Odudu came third on Strictly in 2022, and has hardly been off television since. She’s even become the presenter of Big Brother – 10 years after being dropped from its spin-off series Big Brother’s Bit On The Side.

Jamie was already an entrepreneur, making millions from his confectionary business Candy Kittens, but Strictly gave him credibility money couldn’t buy. Now he’s a household name known more for his infectious personality than being a serial cheater on Made In Chelsea.

As for Mark Wright, he was the ultimate Towie villain. But after Strictly, he successfully rebranded himself as TV’s golden boy and for years was hardly off-screen.

If their success is anything to go by, Pete is about to have a television career he couldn’t have dreamed of this time last year.

His friendship with Sam is the partnership TV is crying out for: a genuine bond full of so much love. In my opinion, they’re the first duo who could even come close to being compared to Ant and Dec.

But Pete is a star on his own too. Few Strictly viewers will be familiar or even remotely fussed about his friendship with Sam, but they’re enamoured with Pete.

Mark my words, Pete will be walking away with much more than a Glitterball trophy.

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