Strictly's Pete Wicks 'emotional' after major backlash from fans

star has confessed to feeling "emotional" after a rough night on the dance floor left him facing an onslaught of backlash from fans.

Despite his best efforts, Pete's performance as Freddie Mercury in the show's first-ever Icons Week was riddled with mistakes, sparking criticism from viewers who accused the show of favouritism.

The former TOWIE star took on the Queen frontman's persona, sporting Freddie's signature moustache and a white vest, and attempted to dazzle the crowd with a salsa to Another One Bites The Dust. But while he certainly looked the part, his routine was far from flawless.

A daring lift saw Pete swing his partner Jowita Przystal inches from the ground, and at one point, she came alarmingly close to hitting the floor. As the dance wrapped up, Pete could be heard apologizing to Jowita, saying: "I'm sorry, darling. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."

The judges acknowledged his mistakes but still praised his showmanship, with head judge Shirley Ballas telling him: "You embraced the character of Freddie Mercury so, so well," she said.

He continued: "@jowitaprzystal worked so hard last week and there is no way I would have ever made it this far without her. I will bounce back, this week is gonna be a bit of an emotional one for me and your support means so much."

Social media quickly filled with criticism, as fans vented their frustration. "The public have fallen for Pete Wicks' fake persona... Unbelievable!!" one viewer raged, while another questioned the scoring, saying, "I'm still so annoyed. wynne and pete were literally RIGHT THERE. they both had their worst week yet and made several mistakes but made it through unscathed???"

Others went even further, accusing the show of a "fix" and claiming that stronger dancers were being unfairly sent home. "It's a FIX FIX FIX how do Pete, Shayne, Wynn & Jamie get through & people like Sam go home. Sam danced better than all 4 of those. Pete made loads of mistakes," one user fumed. Another echoed the sentiment, saying, "Neither of those couples should have been in the bottom two on #strictly. Should have been #Pete and #wynne! It's just a popularity contest, & at this rate, the final will be one big joke."

"I'm not going to overjudge this and I'll tell you why. You made quite a lot of mistakes, so it wouldn't be fair to, we all know you made mistakes we could see them.

But what I was impressed with was how you picked it up. You carried on like a trooper, you did your lifts and thought I'm just going to get on with it and do the job. May they vote for you because you were great."

Despite scoring a modest 22 points - including a four from Craig Revel Horwood - fans were outraged, with many feeling that Pete had been overmarked for a performance they deemed disappointing.

Amid the criticism, Pete took to Instagram to thank his supporters and share his emotional reaction to the night's events. "I don't even know what to say... I'm very humbled and a bit overwhelmed. It wasn't a good night for me and I know just how lucky I am to still be part of the show but thank you everyone."