Strictly's Pete Wicks faces calls to be 'axed' from show by fans after latest routine

Pete Wicks was the first celebrity to take to the Strictly Come Dancing dance floor on Saturday 23 November, and within minutes fans were rushing to social media to say that it is time for the reality The Only Way Is Essex star to go home. With only seven couples remaining, Pete and his professional partner Jowita Pryzstal danced a Tango to the eighties hit song Easy Lover, but viewers were less than impressed with the dance, Pete’s moves, and even the choice of song.

“Rubbish opening to the show actually!!! Definitely in the dance off,” wrote one viewer, while a second said: “I actually cannot believe it is WEEK TEN and Pete Wicks is still here.” Another fan commented: “While Pete’s posture and line are so improved, I’m gonna be so sad if Pete isn’t in the b2 and someone else goes this week,” and a fourth added: “Overall, it’s a decent performance but time to go.”

Pete and Jowita’s choice of the Philip Bailey and Phil Collins hit didn’t go down well either. “Not only was that an appalling choice of music for a Tango the singing was atrocious,” said one fan, and a second said: “And straight away we have an incomprehensibly inappropriate song to go with a tango.” Another asked: “Anyone else thought the music was much quicker than the dance? So weird,” OK! Magazine reports.

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Earlier this week, Pete admitted he was “petrified” to appear on this week’s Strictly, as the show will feature a first ever Samba-Thon. In a show first, when all of the seven remaining couples have finished performing their routines, they will all return to the dancefloor as one big group, as they start to dance the Samba. The judges will then eliminate couples one by one, with the last remaining couple earning an extra seven points to add to their regular dance score on the leader board.

“This is the most nervous I’ve ever been about doing anything,” he said expressing how far out of his comfort zone the show was. Last week, he and Jowita ended up at the bottom of the leader board at Blackpool, so some extra points would certainly be worth trying for this week.

There are fans who hope he will stay in the show if only for more moments like the one at the iconic Blackpool ballroom when he strutted his stuff to Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy For in tight PVC pink pants . The moment had fans in barrels of laughter as they took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to comment on the moment.

One fan tweeted: “OH PETE THE ICON YOU ARE #strictly”, while another said: “Pete was weirdly iconic I thought." A third chimed: “Oh dear not Pete’s best dance but omg those pink pants! A showcase for his sexiness. It worked. The judges comments are hilarious. Craig as honest as ever.”