Pete Wicks is Strictly’s worst dancer, can’t ‘keep his hands’ off his partner and is in a love triangle… yet may clinch the glitterball for a VERY surprising reason, TV insiders reveal to KATIE HIND

When Tess Daly announced on Strictly on Saturday night that Pete Wicks had made it through to the quarter-finals, even he thought she had made a mistake.

Pete found himself bottom of the leaderboard for the third time in four weeks and thought his time on the BBC dance show was over. The charming, long-haired reality TV star, who made his name on The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE), believed the dreaded dance-off was inevitable, not least because he was the worst celebrity.

Pete, 36, and his professional partner Jowita Przystal scored just 29 out of 40 for their tango against Phil Collins and Philip Bailey’s Easy Lover, while rival celebrities Montell Douglas (who scored 37) and Jamie Borthwick (32) faced off instead . -main performance.

And it was EastEnders actor Jamie and his partner Michelle Tsiakkas who were booted.

Pete told Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two: ‘I thought I was going [home] since week one, so every week is a surprise, but that might be the biggest shocker of all.”

Explaining his apparent surprise that night, he added, “I didn’t really understand as we were down to the last two and I thought they meant Montell had moved on.”

As the final three weeks of Strictly drag on languidly, Pete, the least talented dancer, is through to the quarter-finals and might even have a chance of lifting the glitter ball.

Comments from the show’s judges indicate that he has long reached the limits of his dancing ability. But as the public vote has shown, viewers love him, especially Strictly’s female fans. “Everyone is a bit surprised by the Pete phenomenon,” says a Strictly insider. “If it was based on the judges, there’s no way he would still be there.

Pete was recently linked to Love Island favorite Maura Higgins, who is currently competing on I’m A Celebrity

If rumors are to be believed, Pete and Jowita, who left a dance studio in North London together, have become quite close.

So what exactly is the appeal of ‘Pirate Pete’, the scruffy, tattooed womanizer? His nickname comes from his alleged resemblance to Johnny Depp’s character Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates Of The Caribbean, and those who know him say he is ‘utterly charismatic’ and ‘a very brutal thug’.

With his brooding look and shaggy head of hair on muscular shoulders, Pete – known in showbiz circles as a heartthrob – looks more like a wrestler than a ballroom dancer.

“The female viewers just seem to absolutely love him,” the insider said. ‘A lot of the Strictly audience had probably never heard of him because he’s from TOWIE, but he won them over straight away.

‘Even the women in the studio are swooning – the crew and the audience. It seems even Strictly fans can’t resist a bad boy.’ Indeed, hundreds of comments on social media reveal the popularity of ‘The Pirate’ among the show’s female audience. One user wrote: ‘Looking at Pete Wicks’ thighs makes my Saturday nights.’

Another said: ‘Good lord, Pete Wicks brings sexy every week.’

Even show matriarch Shirley Ballas struggles to hide the twinkle in her eye as she casts her judgmental gaze over Pete. The show’s main judge was accused by fans of rating the handsome star too highly, giving him an eight, compared to a low of four from another judge in week nine.

She told him, “Your hips were swaying left and right. It was very entertaining. I don’t think I’ll forget this evening for a long time.’ Not that Pete would have been shocked. Once dubbed television’s greatest Lothario, he boasted of having threesomes in previous relationships and even pursued 63-year-old Carol Vorderman after she admitted to hookups with younger men.

Pete first rose to fame in 2015 as a regular on ITV2’s TOWIE, where he became known for his fiery romance with co-star Megan McKenna and an endless stream of fraud claims. He has since dated a string of glamorous reality TV stars, including Love Island’s Amber Davies and Megan Barton-Hanson, as well as TOWIE co-star Chloe Sims.

Last year, after flying to Australia to support his friend Sam Thompson on I’m A Celebrity, he was spotted flirting with actress Danielle Harold after she was kicked off the show.

He has recently been linked to another Love Island favorite Maura Higgins, who is currently competing in the Jungle.

But those who know Pete say his image has been much more carefully constructed than bystanders might think. In what may be another smart move to keep him on Strictly, he appears to be tapping into a circle of popular showbiz friends, including I’m A Celebrity winner Sam, 32, his partner – ex-Strictly star Zara McDermott, 27 – and another. former I’m A Celebrity winner, Vicky Pattison, 37, to help him connect with fans.

The tight-knit circle has an astonishing 13 million followers on Instagram alone. They use this at every opportunity to support Pete and keep him in the competition.

And then there is Jowita. In a series where the male professional dancers are cautious about their behavior towards famous partners after scandals surrounding Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima, the female pros do not seem to have the same scruples.

Every weekend, Jowita is seen being very touchy-feely with Pete, usually rubbing his arms as they take a seat on the dance floor.

But if rumors are to be believed, they’ve become quite close – with Pete apparently in a love triangle with Maura and Jowita. Maura, 34, insists she’s single – and Pete’s publicist is more than happy for viewers to think he and Jowita are dating.

As one insider put it: ‘The chemistry between them has been great for weeks, but is now really starting to grow. Everyone can see it, they can’t keep their hands off each other.’

Polish beauty Jowita, 30, who has also dated former Strictly dancer Pernice, may think Pete isn’t cut out for a long-term romance. As one of his friends tells me: ‘He wants people to think he’s a brutal thug, he rarely commits.

“He’s fun to start with and then it ends in heartbreak, but women just love the bad boy vibe he gives off.”

And millions of them, it seems, are strict viewers, voting every week to keep Pirate Pete on the show.