Strictly Come Dancing star Pete Wicks has been left dumbfounded after the show’s latest results.
The 36-year-old Towie star is partnered with Jowita Przystal, and has won over many viewers with his vulnerable displays, and his on-screen chemistry with the pro.
During week 11 of the competition, the pair escaped elimination again, despite being at the bottom of the leaderboard for yet another week. Fans have called the result a “joke”.
Instead Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe and Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec found themselves up for elimination. By a unanimous decision, Ghouri and Škorjanec were saved, with Douglas and Radebe being sent home.
It meant that Wicks, who has routinely made mistakes during performances, made it to the competition’s final five. The TV personality has been a divisive figure for some viewers, and has admitted he has received death threats for remaining in the competition at the expense of other contestants.
“I am speechless every week, especially this week because I’ve tried my best,” he said on Sunday (1 December) after being announced as safe.
“I’m just a bloke trying to learn stuff; the fact that I get to take Jowita to a semi-final means so much to me because she deserves it, she deserves everything. I just didn’t wanna let her down tonight by messing it up.”
He confessed that he couldn’t believe the results adding, “I feel like they may potentially be playing a cruel joke on me, but I couldn’t be more thankful. I am so humbled by it, honestly.”
Viewers were left shocked and frustrated as they wrote, “WHO is voting for Pete!? He’s a nice guy but this is a dancing show!!! He’s had the lowest score for multiple weeks now! Why are deserving dancers leaving over him.”
However, in a comment for The Independent, writer Rachel McGrath believes that the Wicks’ progress throughout the competition is being overlooked.
“If you look back at how Wicks (who was a total dance novice) fared in the first few shows,” she writes. “His efforts in recent episodes are nothing short of jaw-dropping.”
Douglas’s departure means that Ghouri, comedian Chris McCausland, Wicks, Miranda star Sarah Hadland and JLS singer JB Gill have made it through to the semi-finals, which will air on 6 December.
The following week will see the grand final crown this year’s winner of the coveted Glitterball Trophy.
