DESPITE a football legend, an Olympian and a beloved actress in the pack, it is to be expected that some celebrities on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing line-up will be a little less known.
But you would be wrong to write off the stars that many fans have deemed “Z-list” additions to the class of 2024 — reality TV stars Tasha Ghouri and Pete Wicks.
While she rose to fame on Love Island and he, through The Only Way is Essex, both are now among the highest earners of the lot.
But their value goes far beyond that, as both have blazed a trail away from the spotlight, doing good for society.
Born deaf, Tasha has worked tirelessly to support disability awareness and Pete’s passion projects include animal welfare.
They are credentials that will be welcomed by the under-fire BBC dance show, which has been rocked in recent months with allegations of toxic behaviour backstage.
Yesterday The Sun unveiled the full list of 15 celebrities taking part, including Arsenal favourite Paul Merson, gold medal-winning swimmer Tom Dean and Miranda star Sarah Hadland.
The full list and their odds to win are revealed.
Here Deputy TV Editor Felicity Cross looks at how Tasha and Pete have become the most influential celebrities you have never heard of — until now.
TASHA checked into Love Island with all the ingredients to emerge a star.
She had already modelled for online giant Asos and was gaining momentum with her career as a street dancer, having appeared in a pop video for MNEK.
But all that promise was almost derailed by her villa boyfriend’s actions during the dating show’s infamous Casa Amor relationship test.
Despite reaching the show’s final with Andrew Le Page, it meant she emerged to derision after he was intimate with a Casa “bombshell” contestant and his phrase that he “licked her t*t, or whatever” became one of Love Island’s most notorious moments.
But, two years on, the couple are stronger than ever and Tasha has more than shaken his past.
Now she will become Strictly’s second Love Islander after Zara McDermott broke new ground last year.
And that reality TV background means she will hit the dancefloor with a huge following already behind her.
Tasha has 1.4million fans on Instagram, 884k on TikTok and 53k on YouTube.
That backing has helped her become a millionaire since leaving the ITV2 dating show, as she was immediately booked by brands including eBay, Ann Summers and L’Oreal Paris.
While other Islanders from her series having fallen out of the spotlight and lost their deals, Tasha remains a major player.
She recently commanded £50k to shoot a few photos for a brand and post them online, such is her appeal to firms who rate her squeaky clean image.
Her earning potential is staggering and, thanks to savvy management from big name agency Off Limits, has been able to work with increasingly important brands.
Yet aside from her wealth, Tasha’s real value lies in her integrity.
She was born deaf and had to learn British Sign Language to communicate before she was fitted with a cochlear implant in her right ear at the age of five.
While working for Asos, she insisted the implant remained in the images as she modelled earrings.
It’s about making inclusivity not a surprise
Tasha Ghouri
Last year she launched her own podcast called Superpowers with Tasha where she chatted to famous faces about their own issues, including fellow Islander Dr Alex George on mental health and Made In Chelsea’s Liv Bentley on alopecia.
She has also co-written a romantic novel, Hits Different, about a deaf teenager.
But she has also enacted real change, by working with the Department of Education to get BSL introduced as a GCSE choice from 2025.
In an interview this year Tasha said: “I’ve definitely found myself deep down, who I really am. I feel more at ease now, more settled.
“I know my worth and I think that’s a big one, especially in this industry.
“You need to know who you are and really stick with it.
“I’d love to see more representation on TV as a whole.
“We’re definitely taking a step in the right direction, but I think it’s still not quite there.
“It still feels like box-ticking.
“I want to continue that momentum by questioning why we can’t have, say, two deaf people on a show, or more than one person in a wheelchair.
“It’s about making inclusivity not a surprise.”
PETE has most often been pictured in The Sun attached to the arm — or lips — of a gorgeous girl.
Just this week we reported that he had been seen snogging Love Island’s Maura Higgins over drinks in London’s Soho.
He found fame as a reality TV hunk on The Only Way Is Essex, romancing castmates Jess Wright and Megan McKenna.
He has gone on to feature on almost as many reality shows as Joey Essex, including Celebs Go Dating, SAS: Who Dares Wins, The Circle and The Real Full Monty.
But he is no dimwit.
Anyone who knows me knows that I prefer animals to people
Pete Wicks
Before embarking on a TV career he was director of a recruitment company supplying consultants to the NHS.
And he has raked it in through new business ventures including his podcast Staying Relevant with best mate, I’m A Celeb winner Sam Thompson, which just wrapped a highly lucrative tour.
Recent financial documents suggest he has just closed down two companies, one handling his media fees and another on a defunct clothing range, with £1milllion debt but his personal wealth is estimated to be close to £3million.
Yet it is away from the spotlight where Pete has set himself apart from other reality stars. He has worked tirelessly with the Humane Society International, with whom he helped shut down a dog meat farm in South Korea, saving more than 170 dogs.
As an ambassador for French Bulldog Saviours he has travelled to China to rescue more.
At home he has worked with the HSI to campaign in Parliament for animal welfare and has two rescue dogs of his own, Eric and Peggy.
Now he is filming a new show for UKTV alongside Dogs Trust called Pete Wicks: For Dogs’ Sake, where he highlights the rehabilitation process involved in rehoming pooches.
Pete said: “Anyone who knows me knows that I prefer animals to people.
“I’ve been single most of my life and, until I got my dogs, had a kind of a party boy life.
“I don’t think you realise how much dogs will change things until you actually have one.
“Now, my friends take the p*ss out of me. I’ll be on a night out and I’ll say, ‘Right, I’ve got to get back, the dogs have been on their own for two hours.’
They are literally like kids.”
