PETE Wicks has signed up for Strictly Come Dancing.
The reality TV star follows DIY SOS star Nick Knowles and EastEnders actor Jamie Borthwick in joining the line-up.
Pete, 36, is the best friend of Zara McDermott’s boyfriend Sam Thompson – who earlier this month revealed she had been kicked by professional dancer Graziano Di Prima, leading to his sacking.
It is the first big break into primetime television for Pete, who found fame on ITV reality show Towie in 2015.
A source said: “Pete has joined the Strictly line up and is excited to get started.
“He isn’t much of a dancer but that’s what the BBC loved about him. They wanted the show to feel more like it did in the beginning.
“Pete is also going to attract younger viewers who have followed his career since Towie.”
Previously Pete has appeared on Celebs Go Dating, Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins and The Real Full Monty – where he stripped naked for charity.
He was spotted in the audience last year after Zara, 27, competed on the show with Graziano.
The Sun revealed on July 13 that Graziano, 30, had been sacked by the BBC following allegations made by Zara.
During rehearsals, he kicked her and is accused of shouting: “My dead grandma could dance better than you.”
Graziano fled the UK and is now working on a farm in Sicily.
