Love Island star Zara McDermott took to her Instagram Stories to share her support for Pete Wicks as his Strictly Come Dancing partner was announced
Strictly: Pete Wicks’ dance pairing revealed
Zara McDermott was over the moon as she shared her support for close pal Pete Wicks as his Strictly Come Dancing partner was revealed on the launch show.
The Love Island star, who has been hitting headlines due to the Strictly scandal regarding her past partner Graziano Di Prima, put the drama behind her as she tuned into the BBC competition to share her support for her boyfriend Sam Thompson’s best friend Pete’s participation on the show.
She took to her Instagram Stories to share a photo she took of her TV screen – which showed Pete hugging his new professional dance partner Jowita Przystał. She captioned the post: “@p_wicks01 and @jowitaprzystal [crying face emoji] [heart emoji] What a pairing!!! [heart emoji].”
Pete’s participation in the show comes after Strictly has been embroiled in drama regarding ‘bullying’ accusations against some of the professional dancers. Graziano, 30, admitted he kicked the Love Island star, 27, while in training for the show last year, which saw him get the axe from the BBC staple.
Zara said at the time she was too scared to speak out about what happened. “I was scared about public backlash, I was scared about my future, I was scared of victim shaming. I felt it was right that I post something regarding the recent media reports,” she said on Instagram.
She insisted she “fully understood the level of commitment and hard work that Strictly was going to be and I dedicated everything to it”, she continued: “I am a resilient person and I was fully prepared to put in whatever it took. And so much of my Strictly experience was everything I could have dreamt of. The entire production team and everyone behind the scenes as well as my fellow contestants were so amazing to work with.
“However, my experience inside the training room was very different. Reports have been made about my treatment on the show and there were witnesses to some events, as well as videos of particular incidents which are incredibly distressing to watch.”
In response, Graziano told the Mail: “The only thing I can think of is the time I kicked the floor in frustration. We’d practised hour after hour to perfect a routine with lifts. It wasn’t easy but that’s the pressure of the show.” He went on: “I wasn’t meaning to kick her. I’d never, never do that. My foot brushed her after I kicked the floor. Afterwards I hugged her and said I was sorry. There was no problem. We carried on.”
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