Strictly Come Dancing 2024 contestant’s ‘ribs still broken’ weeks before first live show-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro

A Strictly Come Dancing 2024 star is already suffering from a painful injury (Picture: PA)

Strictly Come Dancing star Pete Wicks has revealed his ribs are still broken from a past injury, just weeks before the BBC One competition is expected to launch.

The Only Way Is Essex star, 36, is joining the likes of Love Island’s Tasha Ghouri and JLS singer JB Gills to compete for the glitterball trophy.

But as the Strictly live shows begin to air, Pete will also be on our screens during the pre-recorded episodes of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, which runs around the same time.

And while injuries from Strictly rehearsals and the gruelling SAS selection process are no secret, Pete is still recovering from being forced to quit the Channel 4 programme his first time around.

The reality star was medically withdrawn from the 2022 series after he injured himself jumping out of a helicopter into a lake.

Talking about his injury on his Staying Relevant podcast with best friend and I’m A Celebrity winner Sam Thompson, Pete admitted he’s ‘worried’ about Strictly rehearsals, saying: ‘I’m 36, I haven’t been to the gym in ages.’

Pete Wicks is preparing for Strictly rehearsals with the launch expected in weeks (Picture: WireImage/Joe Okpako)

He first took part in SAS: Who Dares Wins in 2022, before being medically withdrawn (Picture: Channel 4/Pete Dadds)

He said he’s keen not to get further injured before the BBC show begins while his three broken ribs are still on the mend, adding: ‘My ribs are still broken, which is going to be a pain.’

Pete previously shared how he was ‘gutted’ to have to quit SAS: Who Dares Wins over his injury, which saw him knock himself unconscious.

After swimming to shore, he told a medic: ‘I winded myself and passed out, all my ribs are quite painful and my head is banging.’

He later said: ‘I had no worries about that challenge, which is the weirdest thing. My strongest thing is probably swimming.

‘I genuinely thought this would be the challenge for me to show what I f****** got and I got it wrong, I got it very wrong.

‘I think my leg got a little bit caught in the bag and I went straight down onto the bag, knocked myself out and broke my ribs.

Jumping out of a helicopter led to his broken ribs (Picture: SAS: Who Dares Wins / Channel 4)

He suffered three broken ribs and was medically withdrawn (Picture: PA)

‘I felt dazed and confused. I was struggling to move my upper body. Basically, I think where I’d hit the bag, and I think just the impact of being unconscious and everything else, I was very confused.

‘I didn’t really know exactly what was going on and even moving my arms was quite painful, just because the pressure that was on my ribs and everything, so it just wasn’t nice. It was just a strange, strange experience.’

He tearfully added, after being told that continuing in the course would be ‘too risky’ for his health: ‘I was gutted actually. This is a bit of a thing for me, it’s like I’ve always wanted to do this show and the worst thing for me was to be taken out because that’s something that I can’t control.

‘But, being completely honest, they’re 100% right because I wouldn’t have been able to carry on with my broken ribs. To have been out so early, I was absolutely gutted because it’s a fail. And, unfortunately now for me, I feel like I failed.

‘It’s something that will f****** haunt me because I just don’t fail things. I don’t say I’m going to do something and don’t do it, so I was genuinely so hurt, gutted, disappointed and angry at myself.’

He added: ‘There was no way I was ever going to hand my armband in. I knew I never would, so to go out the way I did really hurt. To be withdrawn because you’re physically unable to carry on for something that was an unfortunate accident, I just found really, really tough.’

It was previously claimed that Pete taking part in Strictly left Channel 4 bosses ‘fuming’, as SAS: Who Dares Wins returns in the same week as Strictly.

‘Channel 4 were fuming when Pete was revealed as part of this year’s Strictly cast,’ a source told The Sun.

‘It’s the second time they’ve been screwed over by another reality show.

Pete is following in the footsteps of close friend Zara McDermott, who was on Strictly last year, while Sam Thompson won I’m A Celebrity in the same year (Picture: Samir Hussein/WireImage)

‘After Pete was knocked unconscious and broke his ribs in 2022’s series, his return to try and pass selection was a big deal and the first time [ex-Special Forces lead instructor] Billy Billingham and the directing staff have allowed a celeb to try out twice.’

The source added: ‘Bosses wanted his to be one of the main storylines on the show, a real redemption arc, but now they’ve been trumped by Strictly.’

They also said that ‘all plans for Pete to give interviews for SAS: Who Dares Wins will be overtaken by Strictly and bosses are furious but there’s nothing they can do about it’.

The celebrity edition of SAS: Who Dares Wins is also said to be including Doctor Who star John Barrowman and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s sister Rachel Johnson, as well as Paul Gascoigne’s daughter Bianca Gascoigne and Geordie Shore’s Marnie Simpson.

Strictly Come Dancing will return to BBC One and iPlayer later this year. SAS: Who Dares Wins also returns to Channel 4.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

Entertainment – MetroRead More