Strictly's Pete Wicks shares 'unfair' reason he's not had kids in candid love life admission

Strictly Come Dancing hopeful and former The Only Way Is Essex star Pete Wicks set the record straight about his relationship status, amid ongoing rumours about his love life

Strictly Come Dancing star Pete Wicks has opened up about why he is yet to settle down and have children.

While the 36-year-old is not short of female attention and is often at the centre of romance rumours, the reality star has confirmed that he isn't in a relationship.

Getting candid about his love life and mental health, Pete shared that he inevitably "self-sabotages" his love life, due to not fully understanding his self-worth and having abandonment issues.

He explained: "As soon as that kind of closeness develops, I'm like, 'Right I'm off then', it's a case of leaving before someone leaves you."

Discussing abandonment issues, he added: "Again, that's a really common thing, but you're basically self-sabotaging and this is the control freak part, at least I'm in control of that.

"I never thought I wanted to get married or have kids, and again over the last few years [I've realised that] I would love to get married.

"I would love to have kids, but I'm not in a position to be able to do that yet, because there is so much weird stuff in my head, that that would be so unfair for me to go and do that."

Speaking on the High Performance podcast, the former TOWIE star went on to insist that he's at peace with potentially never marrying or having kids in the future, but would like to share his life with somebody at some point.

Pete said in order to be in a healthier place with his mind and a better person, he has been making small changes that make him feel happier.

This includes not looking at his phone first thing in the morning, spending time with his dogs, and switching off from the world on his motorbike.

The reality star also credits his current stint on Strictly Come Dancing as a new, exciting adventure for him out of his comfort zone.

Pete is currently paired up with the show's professional dancer Jowita Przystał, who won the show with Hamza Yassin, back in 2022.

Tonight, the dancing duo will be putting their energy to the test with a Quickstep to Town Called Malice by The Jam.

Strictly Come Dancing airs tonight at 6.20pm on BBC One.