Strictly's Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał 'kiss' during performance
by Geraint Llewellyn For Mailonline · Mail OnlineStrictly Come Dancing's Pete Wicks and pro partner Jowita Przystał sent fans wild after almost kissing during their passionate performance on Saturday.
The TOWIE star, 36, and stunning dancer, 30, have found themsleves embroiled in romance rumours for weeks amid their intense rehearsals.
Now fans have branded them the 'fittest couple ever' after they took to the floor with a sensual American Smooth that saw Pete drawing Jowita in close and their lips just millimetres apart.
The dance also ended with them leaning in for a kiss before the lights cut out, and while it appeared choreographed some viewers were positive a true romance was brewing between the pair.
Judge Motsi Mabuse even spotted their connection saying: 'I think both of you, you had such a beautiful, flirty, romantic atmosphere, and I believed it was authentic'.
Taking to X viewers gushed: 'Jowita has hearts in her eyes': 'How long before Pete tries to kiss Jowita properly?': 'Yay pleased for Pete and Jowita': 'Jowita really wants to stick it on Pete, she fancies the pants off Pete But i don't think Pete is into her unfortunately': 'Pete and Jowita almost kissing?!'.
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The pairs routine saw them score 22 out of a possible 40 and ended up in joint tenth place on the leaderboard with Nick Knowles.
Elsewhere in the episode Tasha Ghouri left father Tarek in tears as she topped the leader board and made history after scoring the highest ever for a Viennese waltz in week two.
The Love Island star, 26, performed with pro partner Aljaž Škorjanec, 34, in what the judges branded the 'dance of the night'.
Anton Du Beke gushed that he 'couldn't find anything bad' in the performance, while Motsi Mabuse agreed: 'That was the best dance of the night! I absolutely loved it!'.
Tasha's father who was sat in the audience appeared visibly emotional as his daughter also struggled to choke back tears following the feedback.
When preparing to hear their scores host Claudia Winkleman said: 'What made it more emotional was watching your dad, sobbing, watching you'.
'I did say he was going to cry' Tasha laughed, as the camera cut to Tarek who was wiping tears from his eyes.
Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard: Week 2
1. Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec - 8 + 9 + 9 + 9 = 35 + 30 = 65
2. Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola - 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 32 + 30 = 62
3. JB Gill and Amy Dowden MBE - 7 + 7 + 6 + 7 = 27 + 31 = 58
4. Wynne Evans and Katya Jones - 7 + 7 + 8 + 8 = 30 + 26 = 56
5. Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe - 8 + 7 + 7 + 8 = 30 + 26 = 56
6. Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell - 6 + 7 + 8 + 8 = 29 + 23 = 52
6. Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu - 7 + 8 + 8+ 8 = 31 + 21 = 52
7. Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas - 6 + 7 + 7 + 7 = 27 + 23 = 50
8. Sam Quek MBE and Nikita Kuzmin - 4 + 6 + 6 + 6 = 22 + 23 = 45
9. Tom Dean MBE and Nadiya Bychkova - 3 + 6 + 5 + 6 = 20 + 23 = 43
10. Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk - 5 + 5 + 5 + 6 = 21 + 18 = 39
10. Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał - 3 + 6 + 6 + 6 = 22 + 17 = 39
11. Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez - 4 + 5 + 4 + 5 = 18 + 19 = 37
12. Paul Merson and Karen Hauer - 2 + 4 + 4 + 5 = 15 + 17 = 32
13. Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones - 3 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 18 + 12 = 30
'And it's not a gentle cry' Claudia joked.
Following their gushing comments, Craig scored them eight out of ten, followed by Motsi, Anton and Shirley who all gave a whopping nine.
Meanwhile Pro Nadiya Bychkova, 36, kicked off the show as she and Olympian Tom Dean, 24, strutted their stuff in sequins to a disco inspired Cha Cha, only for her skin-tight sequinned jumpsuit to rip between her legs.
Following the performance they faced the judges where host Tess Daly, 55, pointed out the awkward gaffe saying: 'Her costume! we had a costume malfunction it ripped on her leg!'.
As Nadiya giggled, judge Shirley, 64, couldn't help but heap praise on Tom and gushed how 'coped and carried on carried on' during the mishap.
Elsewhere Neil Jones, 42, took a savage dig at partner Toyah Wilcox, 66, after the pair found themsleves at the bottom of last week's leaderboard with just 12 points.
After JB Fletcher's perfomance saw him score a whopping 27 out of 40, partner Amy Dowden revealed she'd kept him from making mistakes, by charging him a pound every time.
Hitting back Neil quipped: 'If we did the same with [last week's] tango, I'd be a millionaire by now!'.
Earlier this week Pete was said to be 'in love' with his professional dancing partner Jowita, his best pal Sam Thompson revealed.
His podcast co-host revealed that he believes the two are in love and that the reality TV star 'cares about her so much'.
When appearing on Friday's This Morning, Sam was quizzed by show hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary about their relationship.
The presenter said: 'I think they are in love,' but quickly added that he actually believes their relationship is 'platonic.
Sam added: 'He cares about her so much, the way he looks at her, I've never seen it before.
'I just want to see him happy, he is one of the best people I know.'
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Strictly's Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystal put on a cosy display as they look into each others eyes
Sam's confession comes after the pair put on a very cosy display as they looked into each others eyes and confessed they have a 'code' to communicate without talking.
On Monday, Jowita appeared alongside Pete and Sam on their Staying Relevant podcast, where they confessed that they know what each other is thinking just by looking at one another.
Their close display appeared to rattle his co-host pal Sam as he tried to deny his jealousy over the pair's growing connection.
In the clip, Jowita revealed that Pete called her his 'little ray of sunshine', which prompted her to wear his yellow waistcoat for their time on the show.
The pair were then seen whispering to each other before Jowita rested her head on his shoulder.
Before revealing their non-verbal code, they gave each other an 'Eskimo' kiss in the air.
Earlier on Monday, Jowita took to her Instagram to post a slew of friendly snaps at Strictly Takes Two of them both, sending fans into a frenzy as they highlighted their obvious chemistry.
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Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystal put on a passionate display as they get stuck into Paso Doble training after sparking romance rumours at the NTAs
In one snap, the pair looked snug as Pete put his arm around Jowita's waist while she kicked her leg in the air in a playful pose for the camera.
They also posted a series of cute selfies, with Pete using Jowita's hair to mimic a moustache in the photographs.
Fans took to the comment section of the post to gush over them both confessing they 'look good together' and have 'major chemistry'.
One fan gushed: 'There couldn’t be more chemistry if you chucked a Bunsen burner between them!'; 'I know I shouldn't say this, but you guys have major chemistry.'
'Both look sooooo good together really hope this is the start of more than just Strictly. Would love to see Pete find happiness and Jowita is beautiful inside and out.'
Pete was spotted getting very cosy indeed with the Polish beauty at the National Television Awards earlier this month.
In fact, their intimate conversations set tongues wagging amongst fellow guests that they might just strike up a romance during this year’s series.
The long-haired lothario, who has previously dated Megan McKenna, Chloe Sims, and Ella Rae Wise, was seen with Jowita after in a corridor at London’s O2 Arena where the star-studded ceremony took place.
One onlooker said: ‘Pete was admiring Jowita outfits and told her she looked stunning. They were deep in conversation, and were both leaning in close. It got people talking and wondering if there might be a Strictly romance this year after all.
‘There was a lot of affection between the pair. He was whispering in her ear which really made her smile.
‘At one point, Pete placed a protective hand on Jowita’s shoulder, it all looked very lovey dovey.
‘They’ve clearly formed a very close bond during their time on Strictly.’
The pair of them both had busy evenings at the NTAs. Pete hosted the red carpet for the first time alongside Jungle King Sam Thompson, while Jowita took to the stage to accept Best Talent Show alongside her Strictly castmates.
Jowita, who won the glitterball trophy in 2022 with celebrity partner Hamza Yassin, has previously dated the former Strictly professional Giovanni Pernice, and has recently been linked with choreographer Arduino Bertoncello.
In Pete’s newly-released memoirs, Pete writes that people have called him ‘the arrogant Lothario. The grumpy git. The bad boy.’
‘To be honest, most of that is true,’ he confessed.