Zara McDermott has broken her silence after it was confirmed that her close friend Pete Wicks has joined the new series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Pete, 36, signed up for the show after it emerged the presenter, 27, was physically and verbally abused by her professional dance partner Graziano Di Prima while taking part in the competition last year.
His The signing was a surprise to some viewers, given his friendship with Zara and her boyfriend. Sam Thompson.
However, sharing the news on Instagram on Wednesday, she expressed her support for Pete, saying he “made her very happy.”
Reposting the official announcement, Zara wrote: “I’ve never been so excited. I love you.”
Zara McDermott, 27, has broken her silence after it was confirmed that her close friend Pete Wicks has joined the new series of Strictly Come Dancing.
In a comment, she added: “This makes me so happy. You’re going to have a blast. I’m so proud of you. I can’t wait to see you with some sparkle and maybe even some shorts.”
Sam also shared: ‘I’m speechless. I’m so proud of you… the content we’re going to create that you don’t even know about yet.’
Zara and the former TOWIE star frequently joke that they are in a three-way relationship with Zara’s boyfriend Sam Thompson, 31, who has been best friends with Pete since 2019.
Despite their close friendship, she landed a place on the Strictly line-up amid shocking reports that Zara performed on the show with a “broken” leg following an injury in training and needed painkillers to get through ten-hour rehearsals.
The latest revelation comes after professional dancer Graziano, 30, admitted to kicking Zara during their sessions, leading to him being axed from the BBC series.
It is then claimed that his abusive behaviour was caught on video, in clips which Zara claimed were “incredibly distressing to watch”.
A source told MailOnline: ‘Zara is very happy that Pete has landed the job on Strictly.
“Her experience on the show was very individual – she hopes no one else will go through the same thing again.”
Pete (pictured), 36, signed up for the show after it emerged the presenter, 27, was physically and verbally abused by her professional dance partner Graziano Di Prima last year.
His casting came as a surprise to some viewers, given his friendship with Zara and her boyfriend Sam Thompson.
However, sharing the news on Instagram on Wednesday, she expressed her support for Pete, saying he “made her very happy.”
In a comment, she said: “This makes me so happy. You’re going to have a blast. I’m so proud of you. I can’t wait to see you with some sparkle and maybe even some shorts.”
They added: ‘She knows Pete will have a great time and might even impress the judges – he’s incredibly hard-working and a good person, and will thrive in the environment, which can be intense, but he performs best when challenged and under pressure.
‘Zara doesn’t want anything that happened to her to tarnish her career on Strictly and is supporting Pete even if it hits close to home.’
Pete joined Sam in the Strictly studio audience last year and together they wore printed shirts emblazoned with Zara’s face to show their support.
They posed for photographs alongside Zara and Graziano, who has since fled to his native Sicily following his sacking from Strictly.
Reality stars Sam and Pete became friends after appearing on E4’s Celebs Go Dating in 2019 and have since hosted the podcast Staying Relevant together.
In addition to their podcast, the pair’s working relationship sees them pranking each other in viral social media videos based on Sam’s enthusiasm and eagerness to please juxtaposed against Pete’s grumpiness.
Zara often appears in the clips, in which the trio have performed fun dance routines for their huge following.
The Sun revealed that Zara needed painkillers to endure ten-hour training sessions after breaking a bone in her leg on Strictly.
A source told the publication that the TV star danced during the show’s Halloween week with a broken leg and that it was “literally a horror in every sense of the word.”
An X-ray revealed severe ligament damage as well as a stress fracture in his left tibia.
Show bosses only learned the full extent of the injury two weeks ago when Zara spoke to private investigators amid the investigation into Graziano’s behaviour.
The documentary maker and former TOWIE star are close friends and even joke that they are in a three-way relationship alongside Zara’s long-term boyfriend Sam.
The latest revelation comes after professional dancer Graziano Di Prima admitted to kicking Zara during their training, leading to him being fired from the BBC series.
The BBC star has spoken out about her experience in the Strictly training room and how she was “scared” for her future and “victim-humiliation” following the revelations.
Professional dancer Giovanni Pernice has also been fired from the show following an ongoing investigation into his conduct after actress Amanda Abbington told the broadcaster she had been mistreated.
On Wednesday, Amanda revealed to Channel 4 that the BBC had not offered her any form of “aftercare” following her exit from Strictly and the onslaught of harassment she experienced once Giovanni was axed from the show.
She revealed there are “50 hours of footage that has been blocked” to back up her claims that Giovanni created a “toxic” environment in the training room.
Speaking to her former Strictly co-star Krishnan Guru-Murthy, she said: ‘It’s bullying and it’s aggressive behaviour and there were other things that happened that were very upsetting that you have to deal with at that moment in the room because you’re a woman and you have to deal with those things because otherwise what do you do?’