Pete Wicks is in demand. Even by the former TOWIE star’s standards he’s a busy man, having just released his powerful memoir Never Enough, hosted a lively red carpet at the National Television Awards with BFF Sam Thompson and begun rehearsals for Strictly Come Dancing.
Yes, the tattooed, swearing Essex charmer is hitting the dance floor for the show’s 20th anniversary, and it doesn’t seem to have sunk in yet. “Ridiculous, isn’t it?” he says, with a knowing smile, when we meet on our exclusive shoot. “I’m too old and decrepit,” he laughs. “I’m 36, but I look about 56.
It’s one of the reasons I’m doing Strictly – for the glow-up. Right now I look like I woke up in a wheelie bin.” But the self-deprecating put-downs belie the fact that cheeky chappy Pete is one of telly’s best-loved personalities, and his stint on the BBC show will be sure to give him a whole new legion of fans, particularly among the ladies.
Surprisingly, it’s a prospect he’s nervous about. “It is a different kind of person that watches Strictly and many will have a preconceived idea of who I am.
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