Watch as Strictly star Pete Wicks whispers sweet message to his dance partner Jowita Pryzstal seconds after huge dance error

Pete Wicks was heard repeatedly apologizing to his Strictly Come Dancing partner Jowita Pryzstal seconds after finishing their routine on Saturday night.

The former TOWIE star, 36, transformed into Queen frontman Freddie Mercury as he opened the BBC show with a salsa to hit Another One Bites The Dust.

While he was certainly dressed with Freddie’s signature mustache and slicked-back hair, Pete’s performance was flawed.

The reality star’s routine included a daring lift where he swung Jowita just above the floor, where she came incredibly close to bashing the dance floor.

As they finished the dance for the show’s first-ever Icons Week, Pete could be heard apologizing to Jowita as she approached him.

He said, “I’m sorry, honey. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry’.

Jowita was heard reassuring Pete and saying everything was fine.

The judges, Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Anton Du Beke and Motsi Mabuse enjoyed Pete’s showmanship and noted his mistakes.

Head judge Shirley said: “You embraced the character of Freddie Mercury so well. I’m not going to overstate this and I’ll tell you why.

“You’ve made quite a lot of mistakes, so it wouldn’t be fair if we all knew you made mistakes, we could see them.

‘But what impressed me was how you handled it. You carried on like a soldier, you did your lifts and thought: I’ll just go ahead and do the job.

“May they vote for you because you were great.”

Meanwhile, Craig said: ‘What a terrible shame. It lacked rotation, it lacked fluidity.”

Motsi added: “The dancing needs to get better.”

Pete finished bottom of the leaderboard, scoring just 22 points for the performance, with Craig scoring a four and the remaining three judges scoring sixes.

Pete then spoke to host Claudia Winkleman and said it was an “honor” to dance as Freddie, but called the song choice “ironic.”

He added: ‘It’s probably written in the stars, but I enjoyed it.’

Elsewhere during the show, professionals Nancy Xu and Carlos Gu kept an awkward distance in the Clauditorium.

Just hours after the live episode aired on the BBC, it was claimed that the couple have had a ‘shocking’ row and are now refusing to say anything behind the scenes.

Nancy, 33, and Carlos, 31, both grew up in China and have been close since childhood. They have shared adorable nicknames for each other.

The pair have unfollowed each other on social media and according to new reports, tensions backstage have left their fellow pros ‘shocked’.

And while the dancers and professionals had a chat with host Claudia on the top floor of the studio, Nancy made sure to stand on the far left with her celebrity partner Shayne Ward.

Carlos – who has no partner this year – stood far away on the other side of Claudia as he supported Amy Dowden after she returned to the show following a health problem.

Carlos was dressed as David Bowie with his iconic face paint and red hair.

An insider said The sun on Saturday: “The feud between Nancy and Carlos is really sad and has left everyone very shaken. They have been close since childhood but have fallen apart and unfollowed each other on social media.”

It is claimed tensions arose after Carlos was disappointed not to be paired with a celebrity on this series, while Nancy was busy in rehearsals with Shayne Ward, 40.

The source added, “The atmosphere on set is said to be awkward and tense when they are both around, and it was a relief for many when Carlos didn’t attend the show weeks ago.”

Meanwhile, a separate source told MailOnline: ‘Both Carols and Nancy are extremely warm and always incredibly professional at Strictly locations.’

MailOnline has asked the dancers’ representative and the BBC for comment.

The Icons Week results air tonight at 7.20pm on BBC One.