Zara McDermott has broken her silence after it was revealed that her good friend Pete Wicks will perform on Strictly Come Dancing this year.
The 27-year-old documentary maker and former TOWIE star, 36, jokes that she’s had a threesome with Zara’s long-term boyfriend Sam Thompson, 31, who has been best friends with Pete since 2019.
Despite their close friendship, Pete has secured a spot on the Strictly line-up after shocking reports emerged that Zara performed on the show with a ‘broken’ leg as a result of an injury during training and needed painkillers to get through the ten-hour rehearsals.
The latest revelation comes after professional dancer Graziano Di Prima, 30, admitted kicking Zara during their sessions, leading to him being fired from the BBC series.
This follows claims that his abusive behaviour was captured on video, with Zara calling the footage ‘extremely painful to watch’.
Zara McDermott has broken her silence after it was revealed that Pete Wicks will perform on Strictly Come Dancing this year
The documentary maker and the former TOWIE star are good friends and even joke about having a threesome with Zara’s long-term boyfriend Sam Thompson
A source told MailOnline: ‘Zara is so happy that Pete has got the job on Strictly.
‘Her experience on the show was so individual – she hopes no one has to go through this again.
“She knows Pete will have a great time and could even impress the judges. He is incredibly hardworking and a good person and will thrive in an environment that can be intense, but he performs best when he is challenged and under pressure.
‘Zara doesn’t want what happened to her to get in the way of his Strictly adventure and is supporting Pete, even though it’s a little close to home.’
Last year, Pete sat in the Strictly studio audience with Sam and together they wore printed shirts with Zara’s face on them to show their support.
They posed for pictures with Zara and Graziano, who has since fled to his native Sicily after being sacked from Strictly.
Reality stars Sam and Pete became friends after appearing on E4 show Celebs Go Dating in 2019 and have since co-hosted the podcast Staying Relevant.
In addition to their podcast, the two also keep busy pulling pranks in videos that go viral on social media. These videos revolve around Sam’s enthusiasm and willingness to please, juxtaposed with Pete’s moodiness.
Zara often features in the clips, in which the trio performs fun dance moves for their large fan base.
The latest revelation comes after professional dancer Graziano Di Prima admitted kicking Zara during their training, leading to him being fired from the BBC series
Zara is often seen in videos on social media alongside Sam and Pete, with the trio performing fun dance routines for their large following.
The BBC star has spoken out about her experiences in the Strictly training room and her ‘fear’ for her future and ‘victim shame’ in the wake of the revelations
The Sun reported that Zara needed painkillers to get through the ten-hour training sessions after breaking her shin bone during a Strictly match.
A source told the publication that the TV star danced with a broken leg during the show’s Halloween week, and that it was “literally horror in every sense of the word.”
An X-ray showed that her ligaments were severely damaged and she had a stress fracture to her left tibia.
Show bosses only discovered the true extent of the injury two weeks ago when Zara spoke to private investigators during the investigation into Graziano’s behaviour.
Professional dancer Giovanni Pernice has also been fired from the show, following an ongoing investigation into his behaviour after actress Amanda Abbington told the broadcaster she had been abused.
Amanda revealed to Channel 4 on Wednesday that the BBC had failed to provide “aftercare” following her departure from Strictly and the flood of trolls she faced after Giovanni was axed from the series.
She revealed that “50 hours of footage was blocked” to support her claims that Giovanni had created a “toxic” environment in the training room.
Speaking to former Strictly co-star Krishnan Guru-Murthy, she said: ‘There’s bullying and there’s aggressive behaviour and there’s other things that happened that were really upsetting. You have to sort that out in the room at the time because you’re a woman and you have to sort that out because what else are you going to do?’