Pete Wicks has revealed he received daily death threats and had “people spit on him in the street” after it emerged he cheated on ex-girlfriend Megan McKenna in 2016.
Their turbulent relationship formed one of the biggest storylines on The Only Way Is Essex after it was revealed he cheated on her.
The reality star, 37, who now shares a friendly friendship with Megan, 32, opened up about the extreme hate she received following their breakup.
Megan, who welcomed her first child, Landon Henry, with fiance Oliver Burke in October last year, previously said TOWIE was “one of the most miserable times of her life.”
After years away from the reality show, Pete told Paul C Brunson on his We need to talk podcast: ‘I’ve never experienced it… it’s very difficult when I look back on it and think about how bad it was because at the time I was going through a breakup with Megan everyone knew the ins and outs of it.
‘I received death threats daily, people spat at me in the streets, people sent me videos of dolls they made hanging from trees and that they were burning.
Pete Wicks, 37, has revealed he received daily death threats and had “people spit on him in the street” after it emerged he cheated on ex-girlfriend Megan McKenna, 32, in 2016.
Their turbulent relationship formed one of the biggest storylines on The Only Way Is Essex after it was revealed he cheated on her (pictured together in 2016).
‘I had a lot at that moment, I felt like a figure of national hate, like public enemy number one.
“But the only thing I was worried about at the time was Megan and the fact that I had lost Megan and upset her. I felt so guilty, so guilty.
‘But with that on top it was all over the store, but that’s what it is. The annoying thing is that people say, “If you’re in the public eye, then you expose yourself to this kind of thing.”
‘And completely, you put yourself in a position where you allow people to make judgments and allow people to have opinions.
“You know, I even got death threats through Strictly for staying in the competition because better dancers were leaving and it gets to the point where I don’t think anyone deserves death threats, it gets a bit fucked up.” *** silly.’
He added: “Don’t get me wrong, I was wrong and I always held my hand up for that.” But it was something between Megan and me.
“I never wanted to hurt her and obviously I did. But the attention that that got and what that brought, I was flabbergasted, I didn’t know what to do.
‘It has made me very cautious, it has made me distrustful of people and it has made me more private. That’s when I realize that from that moment on there are two (of) me. The private self and the very public self.’
The reality star, who now shares a friendly friendship with Megan, opened up about the extreme hate she received following their breakup.
Pete told Paul C Brunson on his We Need To Talk podcast: “I’ve never experienced… it’s very difficult, when I look back, to think about how bad it was because at the time I was going through a breakup with Megan.” that everyone knew the ins and outs of this’
“I received death threats daily, people spat at me in the streets, people sent me videos of dolls they made hanging from trees and that they were burning.”
Pete finally opened up about his feelings for Maura Higgins in the emotional interview.
Confessing that his relationship with Maura has become more serious recently, Pete said: ‘We spend more time together than before.’
Pete, who started dating Maura last August, added: ‘Maura and I have known each other for a long time, about six years. We have the same sense of humor, she’s super smart and I think that’s sometimes what people don’t realize about Maura.
“She’s incredibly witty and we’ve always been there for each other over the last six years at a distance where we’ve always been friends and we’ve been there for each other and anything else.” And that means it’s different now.
‘We spend more time together than before. I think she’s an amazing person, she was so supportive of me when I was on Strictly and I was so supportive of her when I was in the jungle.
“She’s a great person, so my relationship with her is that I think she’s a great person and I hope she thinks I’m okay.”
‘Are they very good together?’ asked Paul.
Pete joked: ‘Oh, I see where we’re going with this Paul, it’s very, very well done. The thing is that with me and Maura, like I said, we’ve known each other for a long time and we’ve never gotten along.
Pete finally opened up about his feelings for Maura Higgins in the emotional interview.
Pete, who described Maura as “super smart” and “incredibly witty”, finally opened up about their whirlwind romance after they started dating last August (pictured together in May 2024).
Confessing that his relationship with Maura has become more serious recently, Pete said: “We spend more time together than before” (Maura pictured on I’m A Celeb)
‘When there are people around Maura and me it’s quite fun. “There are so many similarities, she’s a great person to spend time with and yes, we spent time together,” Pete said.
‘We spend more time together now than before and as a person you will know that when you meet her.
‘When there are people around Maura and me it’s quite fun. “There are so many similarities, she’s a great person to spend time with and yes, we spend time together.”
She added, “I’m now in a different stage of my life where the points that I was always made to know, what my relationship always was or the drama and the undercurrent of reality, are no longer something I’m actually doing.”
“The reason I say that and I’m very grateful for all the things I’ve done before, but now I’m more private and more vulnerable is that I’m putting out a version of myself, so I need to protect that. I no longer feel the need to give that to everyone.’