Pete and his best pal Sam nearly went toppling over the I'm A Celeb rope bridge together(Image: James Gourley/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Strictly Come Dancing's Pete Wicks 'nearly died' after crucial rule broken

TOWIE star Pete Wicks revealed that his best pal, Sam Thompson, broke one of the most important rules of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! when he was crowned King of the Jungle

by · The Mirror

Sam Thompson was hailed as the King of the Jungle on last year's I'm A Celebrity. However, his close mate and former TOWIE personality Pete Wicks - currently ripping up the Strictly dance floor with partner Jowita - has opened up on Sam's cheeky rule-break when he was crowned winner, revealing that Sam took an excited leap onto the notoriously unstable victors' bridge - a big no-no, for safety reasons.

Cheering him on from the Aussie outskirts, as OK! reports, Pete confessed on their successful Staying Relevant podcast how, despite strict warnings to steer clear from the precarious bridge, an overjoyed Sam acted on impulse. Recounting the incident, Pete said: "Yeah, the funniest part is before you get a producer who will have said to Sam on the other end of the bridge, Sam would have been told to stand on a star and Pete is going to come and meet you. Do not JUMP."

Pete Wicks and Sam Thompson on I'm A Celebrity( Image: James Gourley/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

He said he had a word with a show producer beforehand who confirmed, "He's promised me he's not going to jump." But, clearly carried away by the moment, Sam jumped anyway. Laughing, Pete said: "So Sam jumps. We then get a little bit carried away, but I'm supporting both of our body weights on this bridge".

Amid the laughter, Pete recalled a moment of near-disaster, when they had a celebratory hug: "They say you can have your hug but you need to turn around so we can get a shot of both of your faces on the bridge. But at that point, I lost my balance. I had to grab the f***ing bridge to stop us going over, I nearly died!".

Pete has also sparked romance rumours with pro Jowita( Image: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

Pete also cleared the air on the rumours about his romantic antics in Australia, where he was seen getting close with EastEnders celeb Danielle Harold and spending time with Nick Pickard's partner, Sarah Corrin. Quashing the gossip on his podcast, Pete issued a blunt denial: "Just on my experience for the whole f***ing thing, we'll go into that another time properly. I just want to point out that I didn't sh** anyone's wife."

Commenting on the speculation about Pete's colourful love life, Sam added: "Pete got linked to every single person out there. He got linked to Sarah - Nick's [Pickard] girlfriend, he got linked to Danielle [Harold], he got linked to my girlfriend Zara [McDermott], he got linked to Rochelle [Humes] at one point. I don't think there were any more women out there to get linked to."