BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Pete Wicks addresses 'painful' moment on show with pro Jowita

Pete Wicks has candidly expressed the discomfort he feels at the beginning of each Strictly Come Dancing episode, before he's even danced. The 36-year-old said standing on the dance floor as the pairs gradually come down the stairs was "painful", as he struggled to sync up with the music.

On his Staying Relevant podcast with his co-star and best friend Sam Thompson, the latter couldn't help but point out Pete's awkwardness, declaring: "That is something I thought I would never see you do in my life."

Pete admitted: "That gives me more pain and anxiety than anything that bit, because it's just freestyle, just groove to the music.

"Every week we're first, so it's getting slightly shorter as the couples go, but every week we come out first, 'Welcome Pete and Jowita' and we go down the stairs and I've got a whole song to groove to the music.

"And let me tell you, for somebody who has no rhythm and can't find a beat, the audience clap along and I try and clap along and I'm off time." Laughing, Sam said he had noticed his awkwardness, which prompted Pete to add: "And then I think, 'don't do that' so I just look around and smile."

The former TOWIE star went on to say that turning to his professional dance partner for a chat during that moment has helped him through. "I talk to Jowita because I can't physically stand there, it's painful for me."

Sam went on to probe his co-star about the genuine excitement over song choices after noticing how enthusiastic some pros were. Pete answered with humour: "The problem I have is, I never know what the songs are."

In a tribute to music legends this week, the reality star is set to channel Freddie Mercury in an Icons-themed week, taking on a Salsa routine to Queen's Another One Bites the Dust.

Strictly Come Dancing continues tonight at 6.30pm on BBC One.