Sam Thompson casts five-word verdict on Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystal's BBC Strictly Come Dancing 'romance'

Sam Thompson has been quizzed over his friend Pete Wicks's relationship with his Strictly Come Dancing co-star Jowita Przystal after fans have been left gushing over the pair's 'palpable chemistry'.

Viewers of the BBC One dance contest will have seen Pete and Jowita perform live for the first time in the iconic ballroom last Saturday night (September 21) as the show officially got underway a week after the airing of the pre-recorded launch show.

They were among the 15 new couples who performed their first routines of the series during week one of the 2024 competition and earned 17 points for their paso doble to Breathe by electronic dance music band The Prodigy.

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As they now prepare for their second performance of the series, while appearing on This Morning to deliver the latest showbiz segment, Sam had been talking about how Johnny Depp had been visiting children in hospital as Captain Jack Sparrow, never breaking character during his visit, when attention turned to Pete and Jowita.

Moving onto the next story, host Dermot O'Leary commented: "Someone else who never breaks cover is your best friend slash brother from another mother, Pete Wicks. Pete's a lovely warm man until he's around you [Sam]..."

Alison then chipped in: "What's going on? What's the gossip?" as Dermot added: "Sizzling chemistry I'm reading," referring to Pete and Jowita's pairing for Strictly's 20th anniversary year.

"You know what, he was on the podcast last week and I think they're in love!" Sam declared. He laughed as he went on: "It's probably platonic but he cares about her so much and the way he speaks about her is so lovely. I've never seen it before. I'm interviewing them and he won't even look at me. They're looking at each other, they're touching each other and have their little inside jokes..."

Dermot noted: "It's so intimate," to which Sam agreed: "Strictly is so intimate..." He added: "He hates being around me, this is what I don't understand. He's like a dog around her - if she says sit he'll sit. I've been trying for a TikTok for years..."

Dermot then put Sam on the spot and asked if he'd like to see Pete and Jowita together to which he said: "I just want to see him happy. He's one of the best people I know. But you know what? What I really want to see him be is a better dancer..." before adding "they look great together".