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12 November 2024, 11:22 | Updated: 12 November 2024, 11:29
Love Island's Maura Higgins and TOWIE's Pete Wicks have been romantically linked for months, but what's going on? Maura has finally spoken out about the romance and here's what we know.
While former The Only Way Is Essex star Pete Wicks has starred on Strictly Come Dancing 2024, rumours swirled about him dating Love Island star Maura Higgins.
Pete, who's famously besties with I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! 2023 winner Sam Thompson, is on the dancing competition show with dance partner Jowita Przystal.
Maura originally appeared on Love Island in 2019 where she found love with Curtis Pritchard, however, the pair ultimately called it quits in March 2020.
In 2022, she found herself in the headlines after she was photographed locking lips with none other than Love Island 2024 bombshell Joey Essex! But since August 2024 she's been romantically linked to Pete.
So, is Maura now dating TOWIE 'bad boy' Pete? Here's what we know.
In November the pair seemingly confirmed they were dating when they were spotted out on a date night in London after it had been reported Maura was going to Australia for I'm A Celeb this year.
Many are assuming this is their final date before she heads down under to be a late comer on the show.
The pair were seen all over each other at a public event in August 2024, and now Maura has opened up on Married At First Sight expert Paul C Brunson's podcast, 'We Need To Talk' about her relationship and dating history.
When asked if she and Pete 'were a thing', Maura responded: "We just get on very, very well. I adore him, he's an amazing person... Do you know what's so weird? We met very soon after me coming off Love Island and we just instantly clicked."
"Our humour is the same. It's like that sick, dark humour. It's very abusive. We abuse each other. Very nasty, it's hilarious."
Maura doesn't seem to be ready to put a label on anything she may or may not have with Pete just yet, but she spoke to Paul about her past dating experience.
"I've not had a great track record in relationships. I just feel like apart from my best friend, every guy has just let me down.'I expect to be let down and you can never be in a healthy relationship if I'm expecting that."
During a Pride Of Britain Awards after-party on October 21st, Maura and Pete seemed to confirm their romance when they were spotted locking lips.
An onlooker told MailOnline: "They were all over each other, I was surprised to see them looking so close because I thought he had real chemistry with Jowita.
"At one point they were basically straddling each other and didn't seem to care at all that people could see them."
Pete and Maura first fuelled romance rumours in August when they were spotted kissing outside the hotel in Soho, London enjoying an alfresco lunch.
Maura and Pete also recently shared a TikTok video together where they performed a viral dance move, which had fans sure they were a thing as Pete pulled Maura into him.
Recently, Pete and his dance partner Jowita sparked dating rumours too but she addressed them, insisting they were just friends.
Jowita told OK! magazine: "We have very good chemistry together as friends, we really get on well with each other, and we have so much fun together.
"And dancing is a bit like acting, so we're telling a story every night on Saturday night, and I think we're doing a pretty good job with that."
"But we're very good friends, and I love him so much as a brother, and I think we're going to stay friends for life, to be honest," she explained.
Neither Maura nor Pete have confirmed their relationship with one another and according to The Mirror, Pete was overheard saying he was "single" on the Pride Of Britain red carpet just hours before he and Maura were spotted getting close at an after-party.
This comes after he opened up about how he approaches relationships during the High Performance podcast earlier this month. He said: "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.
"It's that classic abandonment syndrome, 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. Over the last few years [I've thought] I would love to get married, I would love to have kids but I am not in a position to be able to do that yet,
"There is so much weird stuff in my head that that would be so unfair for me to be able to go and do that. It may be to a point that I may never get married, I may never have kids and that's OK."