Strictly's Pete Wicks' tears after animal's death on TV show

Strictly Come Dancing and TOWIE star Pete Wicks appeared on Celebrity Island back in 2018, breaking down in tears over an incident in camp – while fans branded him a hypocrite

During his 2018 appearance on Celebrity Island, Strictly Come Dancing's Pete Wicks made a devastating sacrifice that resulted in a tragic death. The seven remaining celebrities were desperate for food when a pig wandered into their camp, seemingly answering their prayers, reports OK!.

However, Pete, who had recently become a pescatarian, argued against killing the magnificent creature, insisting they could survive solely on fish. The TOWIE star led the pig away from the camp, but it kept returning, leading him to name it Colin in an attempt to humanise it and encourage the others to see it as a pet rather than food. While Pete protected Colin from being killed, the pig began to irritate the rest of the campmates by invading their space. With the celebs starving and in dire need of food, there were heated debates about whether or not to eat it.

As the decision was being made, Colin was tied to a tree on the beach to prevent it from rummaging through their supplies. Tragically, the pig became frightened while tied up and ended up with a section of rope around its neck, leading to it accidentally strangling itself to death.

Pete, who had formed a bond with Colin and was even seen playing with it like a dog, was left utterly heartbroken, blaming himself for the untimely death. Tension erupted in the camp over whether they should consume the pig after its passing. Tearful Pete, along with his campmates, chose not to eat Colin and instead gave the pig a sea burial. Amidst this sombre moment, Antony Agogo remarked off-camera, "It's a bloody pig."

An animal welfare group slammed the “grotesque” scenes from the show, deeming the death “highly dubious” and demanded that Channel 4 axe the series. Humane Society International UK applauded Pete’s tender-hearted response, despite their stance against using animals as entertainment, calling his actions towards Colin “commendable and beautiful.”

Their statement pressed on: “It’s time for Channel 4 to pull the plug on programmes like Celebrity Island because it really is grotesque for animals to be made to suffer and die for a TV show. Colin the pig was most likely placed on the island to be killed for food, a fate that he escaped thanks to Pete Wicks' intervention, but nonetheless Colin tragically ended up dying by strangulation anyway in circumstances that seem highly dubious and certainly would have been painful and frightening for Colin."

The public aired mixed views, with some calling Pete a "hypocrite" pointing out that he had previously killed a stingray, while others were less judgemental. One viewer took to Twitter, saying: "LOL Pete Wicks moralising over killing an animal when he stuck a spear through a stingray ! ? Get it on the barbecue ! celebrityisland."

Another chimed in with: "So Pete doesn't want the pig killed but he was happy to stick a spike through the stingray's head? #celebrityisland."

A third added their thoughts: "I found that comment hilarious, I'm not taking another living thing'e s life to eat but I'm happy to barbarically spear a stingray and celebrate it in some weird lord of the flies style #celebrityisland".