Pete Wicks brands Jowita Przystal ‘ray of sunshine’ in sweet tribute amid romance rumours after BBC Strictly exit

This was echoed by viewers at home who claimed the show had been “fixed” for Wicks to continue competing – as well as a sexism row on behalf of Shirley Ballas breaking out.

Last night, Wicks and his partner Jowita Przystal – with whom Wicks has been embroiled in romance rumours with over the last couple of weeks – performed two dances to try and secure a place in the final next week.

Their first dance was the Argentine Tango to The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony and then the Foxtrot to Beyond the Sea by Bobby Darin.

Overall, they scored 65 out of a possible 80 and placed at the bottom of the leaderboard – and faced the dreaded dance-off tonight against Tasha Ghouri and Aljaz Skorjanec.

The couple decided to perform their Argentine Tango for the judges, who then went on to unanimously save Ghouri and Skorjanec – sending them into the final.

Speaking to Tess Daly about his time on the competition, Wicks said: ”It's been wild. I've been quite honest about the fact that I didn't necessarily want to do this in the first place.

“But everyone else wanted me to do it, and I am so, so glad that I did it! You don't always have to be the best, but if you enjoy something then why shouldn't you have a go at it?

“I've tried my best from day one, I said I was in for a penny, in for a pound and I've done it, it's been beautiful.”

Having nothing but glowing praise for his partner, he continued: “There's a lot of things I'm going to take away from this, but one of the most special things is you [to Jowita] and I mean that.

“Because you're one of the most incredible people - not just as a dancer - but as a person. You've been a ray of sunshine for me.

“You've helped me through things in the past three months that Ididn't think I could do and you made me believe in myself and that means more to me than anything.”

Emotional, Przystal responded: “I just want to say thank you, thank you for the trust you have given me since day one.

“I know it wasn’t easy, but with your hard work, your commitment and your heart, which is the most amazing thing, you were winning every week!

“For me, every dance was special… even the Cha Cha in Blackpool!

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"Remember on day one you said ‘I’m not going to stay long in this competition because I cannot dance’ but now I can say to you, yes you can.”

Fans of the couple were left saddened to see them leave, as one penned on X: "he might have stayed longer than a lot of people would liked, but i loved Pete and Jowita’s friendship. it’s been adorable."

Another added: "I don’t think Pete was at fault at all. He’s done so well and improved throughout the competition!"

"I am so incredibly proud of Pete. He didn’t think he could make it past the first week and he made it to the semi-final. He did such a good job," someone else penned.

A fourth noted: "So it's Pete and Jowita who fall at the final hurdle, everyone there is a Winner in my eyes. Pete and Jowita have a lovely Dance partnership and bond, he's improved so much from Week 1 starting off as a beginner."

Someone else said: "Gutted for Pete but this is hard because they’re all good! I did forget about Tasha’s first dance though." (sic)