Strictly Come Dancing's Pete Wicks claimed that the show is 'tougher than Celebrity SAS' as he appeared on Wednesday's Loose Women with his pro partner Jowita Przystał - as he teased a HUGE commitment to her.
The former TOWIE star, 36, and stunning dancer, 30, have found themselves embroiled in romance rumours for weeks amid their intense rehearsals - but he's also been seen looking cosy with Maura Higgins.
Now, the swirling suspicions have ramped up after their joint TV appearance today, as they joined Christine Lampard, Janet Street-Porter, Katie Piper and Coleen Nolan on the panel.
The duo began by entering the show in style with a dramatic twirl and a body roll, before being quizzed about their experience so far.
When asked about how difficult the BBC dance show is in comparison to the myriad of other reality shows Pete has tried his hand at, he revealed that Strictly is the toughest.
Christine asked: 'When you look at everything you've done and you take TOWIE away from this - I'm talking about Celebs Go Dating, MasterChef, The Real Full Monty, Celebrity SAS one of the toughest things out there - where does Strictly sit in amongst all of those?'
'It's the toughest by far,' replied Pete, 'I did Celebrity SAS twice and this is harder, it's more intense and it's so far out of my comfort zone.'
He turned to Coleen and added: 'I mean, we did The Fully Monty together and the dancing on there was not ideal for me but the backup I had was that doing other things helped.'
The former TOWIE star has already had a more difficult time than most on his two runs of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
Pete was forced to withdraw during his first appearance on the show after a stunt went wrong.
He had been tasked with jumping out of a helicopter into a lake when he knocked himself out with his backpack, hitting the surface at full speed, and was left face down in the water.
Luckily he was rescued by the show's ex-special services staff and its health and safety team who concluded his injuries were mainly a few broken ribs.
Now, as part of the ongoing sixth series, dramatic scenes saw him collapse onto the floor with instructor Mark 'Billy' Billingham 'thinking he had killed him'.
Viewers watched as hardman Billy shouted: 'He ain't going to make it, he's going to die,' after Pete falls to the floor on top of a snowy mountain.
The terrifying moment occurred when the recruits are pulling sleds up the mountain in pairs, with Pete being left to complete the challenge alone.
But, when it all becomes too much and he collapses, Billy has to call in the medics who arrived by snowmobile to come to his aid.
Speaking to The Sun about what happened, Pete quipped: 'Look, that was a tough challenge. I collapsed.
'I just pushed myself to a limit and I was very dehydrated. Weird enough, I think I'm the only person that gets heat exhaustion in the f****** snow.
'I hadn't looked after myself and it's a fine line between getting stuff right and wrong.'
Elsewhere on today's Loose Women, Pete revealed a huge commitment he's made to dance partner Jowita.
Janet recalled: 'I read somewhere that you two are going to get matching tattoos if you win?'
The reality star admitted: 'I've got a fair few tattoos so if we win then we're going to get a couple of Glitterballs.'
Gushing about her celebrity partner, Jowita said: ' I've never laughed so much in my life during this three weeks and I absolutely love every second with Pete.
'But I need to admit, we have a lot of laughs, but the focus and determination this man has - outstanding.'
This Saturday is movie week on the BBC show, so fans will see Pete transform into George of the Jungle for a dance that involces a 'rope,' 'a lot of hips, ' and a loin cloth'.
He laughed: It's like The Full Monty all over again. We're going fun this week.'
It comes after fans branded Pete and Jowita the 'fittest couple ever' after they took to the floor with a sensual American Smooth that saw Pete drawing Jowita in close and their lips just millimetres apart.
The dance also ended with them leaning in for a kiss before the lights cut out, and while it appeared choreographed some viewers were positive a true romance was brewing between the pair.
Judge Motsi Mabuse even spotted their connection saying: 'I think both of you, you had such a beautiful, flirty, romantic atmosphere, and I believed it was authentic'.
Taking to X viewers gushed: 'Jowita has hearts in her eyes': 'How long before Pete tries to kiss Jowita properly?': 'Yay pleased for Pete and Jowita': 'Jowita really wants to stick it on Pete, she fancies the pants off Pete But i don't think Pete is into her unfortunately': 'Pete and Jowita almost kissing?!'.
The pairs routine saw them score 22 out of a possible 40 and ended up in joint tenth place on the leaderboard with Nick Knowles.
Pete was also spotted putting on a very flirty display with rumoured love interest Maura Higgins on Sunday night.
He was back in Maura's arms as they enjoyed a night out at The Ship in Wandsworth alongside his Strictly friends after being put through to the next week.
An eyewitness shared: 'They were all over each other, I was surprised to see them looking so close because I thought he had real chemistry with Jowita.
'At one point they were basically straddling each other and didn't seem to care at all that people could see them.
'You'd think Pete would be more concerned about Tom given he'd just been given the boot on Strictly but he only had eyes for Maura all night!'
MailOnline has contacted Maura and Pete's representatives for comment.
