Reality stars Tasha Ghouri and Pete Wicks join Strictly Come Dancing line-up
They were unveiled on the Kiss FM Breakfast show.
Reality stars Tasha Ghouri and Pete Wicks are the sixth and seventh contestants confirmed for Strictly Come Dancing.
The duo were both unveiled on the Kiss FM Breakfast Show.
Love Island star Ghouri, who was born deaf and uses a cochlear implant, found fame on the eighth series of the ITV2 reality show two years ago, where she met boyfriend Andrew Le Page.
She has since become a campaigner for the deaf community and worked with 10 Downing Street and the Department for Education.
She said: “I feel nervous, excited, like I’m about to throw up.
“It didn’t feel real ’til I was here now, but I’m so gassed, I’m so excited.”
Asked which professional partner she would like to be paired with, she said: “I do have a dream of who I would love to be with, I’ve not even met them yet.
“It would be Jojo (Johannes Radebe), I would love to work with him.”
Ghouri, who is a trained dancer, said Strictly would be a new kind of experience.
She said: “I’ve not danced in quite a few years now, since Love Island my career has changed so much.
“I might not be good at it, like ballet, I’m not good at ballet, I’m trained in commercial, so I’m excited to learn these new styles.”
Wicks, who shot to fame on ITVBe series The Only Way Is Essex, said he is experiencing mixed emotions about joining the line-up.
He told Kiss: “It is a mixture of excited and absolutely petrified, genuinely petrified.”
He said his best friend, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here winner Sam Thompson, is already beside himself with excitement,
He said: “Sam already knows, I did tell Sam and Sam cried.
“I am not even joking, he screamed and jumped up and down and cried and planned that every Saturday he will be at the show.
“He is making T-shirts, the guy really needs to get a life.
“He’s my number one fan in life, he is kind of like Martha from Baby Reindeer, that is our relationship.”
They join previously announced contestants Welsh opera singer Wynne Evans, singer and actress Toyah Willcox and TV doctor Punam Krishan, as well as blind comedian Chris McCausland and JLS star JB Gill.
Discussing his biggest fear about taking part, Wicks said: “The thing people are most nervous about is falling flat on your face so it’s probably that.
“There is a lot of stairs, it’s not even the dancing, people run up the stairs to talk to Tess and Claudia and I will probably just slide back down.”
Asked which judge she is most scared of, Ghouri said: “They are all quite scary but you’ve got to take the criticism on the chin and use it to improve.”
Assessing how well they will both do, Wicks told Ghouri: “100% you’re going to do a lot better than me.
“I think you’ve got a finalist and someone watching the final here.”
The announcements come after swimmer Tom Dean announced he will be appearing on the show after reaching the final of the men’s 200 metres individual medley in the Paris 2024 Olympics last week.
Other stars who will reportedly join the line-up include DIY SOS presenter Nick Knowles, ex-Arsenal footballer Paul Merson, EastEnders actor Jamie Borthwick, X Factor winner Shayne Ward and Olympian Sam Quek.
Gladiators star Montell Douglas, better known as Fire, and Miranda actress Sarah Hadland have also signed up, according to The Sun.
The popular BBC dancing show has made headlines recently after a storm of controversy over the alleged treatment of contestants on the show.
The results of an investigation, launched by the BBC following allegations made about Giovanni Pernice by former participant Amanda Abbington, have not yet been published by the corporation.
Pernice rejects the allegations and fellow dancer Graziano Di Prima has also left the show.
