STRICTLY Come Dancing fans have branded one of this year’s celebrities as “fake” after he made his show debut.

Viewers of the BBC One series have laid into the star and accused him of pulling a “power move” to impress the judges during the competition.

Pete Wicks, 36, took to the ballroom on Saturday night in the first group dance after it was revealed he has been partnered with Jowita Przystał.

The Only Way Is Essex star was also told that he and Jowita will be performing a Paso Doble when the competition properly gets underway this weekend.

But eagle-eyed fans are convinced Pete – who claims to be clueless when it comes to dance – isn’t being entirely honest about his skills.

Sharing their thoughts on a Strictly forum, one viewer said: “My mate reckons Pete being the only one doing the paso in Week One is a ‘power move’ and indicates he’s better than he’s trying to let on in his pre show interviews.

“It shows they’re quietly confident because they could run the risk of negative comparisons to Nigel [Harman’s] from last year if it’s a bit naff!”

Agreeing, another said: “I tend to agree, I feel in his intro video he is making out he going to be awful but kind of knows he isn’t.”

Referencing Pete’s song – Firestarter by The Prodigy – a third chimed in: “Pete and Shayne have the pick of the songs for me. In terms of making an impact with the audience.”

Pete’s dance floor rival Shayne Ward will be performing to Stevie Wonder’s Do I Do with his professional partner Nancy Xu.

During last weekend’s Strictly launch show, Pete was quick to share his ignorance about dancing with the cameras.

“Strictly, it’s a whole new world because I have absolutely zero rhythm. But I love a challenge,” he said.

“I think people’s opinion of me is that I’m overly confident but this is going to be the most vulnerable I have ever been and I am petrified. I just want to get past week 1. If I can get past week 2…”

Later, Pete was seen sitting next to Jowita as they were told what their first dance and song are.

Pete had told Jowita that he “isn’t flexible”, so she said: “If you really want to win, I have a schedule already sorted. So Monday, 4.30am we go to yoga. Then pilates. Then after that, we go to ballet.”

He scoffed: “Oh don’t be so ridiculous!”

Pete told Jowita he loves the song Firestarter but asked the studio – including his fellow competitors and host Claudia Winkleman: “What’s a paso doble?”

Claudia said to him: “Never mind, you’ll find out. You’re going to be fine.”

Pete is among 15 celebrities taking part in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.

Strictly 2024 pairings

Here’s who is matched with who this series…

Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell
Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas
JB Gill and Amy Dowden MBE
Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe
Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk
Paul Merson and Karen Hauer
Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał
Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez
Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec
Tom Dean MBE and Nadiya Bychkova
Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones
Sam Quek MBE and Nikita Kuzmin
Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola
Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu
Wynne Evans and Katya Jones

With the BBC hoping this year’s series goes off without a hitch, they have been forced to add new duty of care procedures into rehearsals.

After an official complaint was lodged against Giovanni Pernice in May by his 2023 partner Amanda Abbington, a probe into the professional dancers’ conduct has been ongoing.

This has led to the series implementing chaperones in the rehearsal rooms with the celebrities and dancers while they prepare for each week.

Last Friday, Pete was spotted with his chaperone as he left dance training in London.

While the results of the probe are yet to be announced, it is believed the BBC were eager to put the situation to bed before the series kicked off last weekend.

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Source: The Wall Street Journal