STRICTLY Come Dancing’s Pete Wicks could be heard profusely apologising to his partner Jowita Pryzstal seconds after finishing their routine last night.
The former Towie star transformed into Queen frontman Freddie Mercury for the show’s first ever Icons Week.
He opened the programme by performing a salsa to the band’s hit Another One Bites The Dust.
While he certainly looked the part in a white vest top and with Freddie’s trademark moustache and slicked back hair, the routine itself was flawed.
It ended with a very daring lift that saw Pete swing brave Jowita just inches above the floor, but at one stage she came incredible close to bashing off the surface.
Though he ended with a triumphant fist in the air, when Jowita approached him, Pete could be heard saying: “I’m sorry, darling. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.”
All the while, smiling Jowita reassured him everything was OK.
The judges loved the couple’s showmanship, though noted there were errors throughout.
Shirley Ballas said: “You embraced the character of Freddie Mercury so, so well. I’m not going to overjudge this and I’ll tell you why.
“You made quite a lot of mistakes, so it wouldn’t be fair to, we all know you made mistakes we could see them.
“But what I was impressed with was how you picked it up. You carried on like a trooper, you did your lifts and thought I’m just going to get on with it and do the job.
“May they vote for you because you were great.”
Pete picked up 22 points for the performance, with Craig Revel Horwood scoring a four and the remaining three judges – Shirley, Anton Du Beke and Motsi Mabuse – scoring sixes.
The scoring didn’t sit well with some viewers who felt the marking was too generous given mistakes were made.
One person wrote on X: “I hate to say it but Pete was overmarked :/ #StrictlyComeDancing #Strictly.”
Another said “Overmarked #Strictly.”
Speaking to host Claudia Winkleman afterwards, Pete said it was a “honour” dancing as Freddie but called the song choice “ironic”.
He added: “It’s probably written in the stars, but I enjoyed it.”
