Strictly’s Pete Wicks claps back at the judges after fierce criticism

Pete Wicks has come under fire again after he was given less than glowing feedback during his first appearance on Strictly Come Dancing.

The former The Only Way is Essex star, 35, took to the dance floor for the first time tonight with partner Jowita Przystał, 30.

The pair are tasked with taking on the pasodoble, but before dancing, Pete expresses concern about their abilities.

“I never thought I’d be doing this,” he said in a pre-recorded segment, adding that his family and friends expected him to ‘mess up’ on the show.

‘I have the flexibility of chopsticks,’ he quipped.

‘I don’t have rhythm and natural dance ability – that’s a bit of a problem,’ he later admitted.

After going through the routine, it was time for the four judges – Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and the very famous Craig Revel Horwood – to share their thoughts.

‘Well paso Pete, I’m a bit lost for words really,’ Shirley began, before criticizing the fact that he only seemed to show off one movement.

‘Pasodoble is built from many twisting and different figures and this seems to repeat itself over and over again,’ he continued.

When the studio audience began to boo, Shirley asked them to ‘wait for the moment’, indicating that she could have something positive to follow up with, but that was not the case.

‘I found the footwork not like the original pasodoble but keep trying and come back next week to fight. But this is not my cup, dear.’

It then came time for Anton’s assessment, with the judge saying his actions made him ‘nervous’.

“You go through a routine and it’s not that you can’t do the steps or the choreography, it’s the timing and the music that confuses you,” he said.

But, jumping in, Pete declared: ‘I don’t have a rhythm partner!’

After advising him to try and not count his steps out loud and that ‘the music is your friend’, Anton said that he should work on ‘his time and his music’.

Craig then said Pete’s arm was ‘let go and forget about it’ before delivering the brutal line: ‘Looks like you’re going through a stroll from Port Talbot steelworks.’

‘But I appreciate your determination and the fact that you tell the story.’

However, Motsi said there was a ‘missing technique’, he was ‘caught’.

‘I can’t look away and it’s a modern interpretation of dance. But I see your eyes are like fire, so stay put!’

When it came to scoring, Pete and Jowita were given 4, 5, 3 and 5 respectively by Craig, Motsi, Shirley and Anton.

Those watching the game at home also shared their thoughts on social media.

‘Shirley shushing audience boos when criticizing Pete only to double down on criticism after it’s peak comedy,’ user thesugarsuga posted on X.

‘Pete doesn’t take criticism well,’ commented RoomMrs.

‘I gave it two weeks before Pete jumped the judge’s table and put Anton and Craig in a headlock,’ katyajcnes joked.

When asked how he felt after the incident, Pete was only positive: ‘If I’m honest, I’m really happy. I’ve always said it’s probably not a competition for me, but I’ve honestly been loving it for the past few weeks.’

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 6.15pm on BBC One.

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