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STRICTLY Come Dancing fans are convinced they have clocked the 'first romance' of this series.

Eager viewers reckon Pete Wicks has 'fallen in love' with pro partner Jowita Przystał - and believed a clue was hidden in his recent podcast appearance.

a man and a woman are dancing on a stage
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Fans are convinced sparks are flying between Pete Wicks and Jowita PrzystalCredit: BBC
a man sitting in front of a microphone with the word at above him
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Pete gushed about his pro partner on his podcast, Staying RelevantCredit: instagram
a man wearing a gold jacket with the word love on it
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Pete's co-host Sam Thompson looked emotional as his pal spokeCredit: instagram

Pete appeared on his podcast Staying Relevant, which he hosts with best mate Sam Thompson, where he gushed about his dance teacher.

"Jowita is just - I could not have got a better partner," he smiled, ditching his usual trademark frown.

When Sam then quizzed him oh if he could now see why taking part in the BBC show becomes such an intense bubble, Pete added: "I can't sit here and go 'she's my life' - we don't know each other that well. But what I do know is that she makes me feel good.

"And that is really important and hopefully I make her feel good and that's a really nice place to be, you know what I mean?"

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Sam then looked emotional as he turned to the producers off camera, while Pete carried on: "She's made this week as easy as possible for me.

"She's up every morning - we're there at f***ing six AM every morning before the studio's open and we're f***ing getting cold and dark and every morning I'm excited to go."

This prompted a teary-eyed Sam to declare: "I love this Pete."

Pete smiled, adding: "So yeah, she's great."

As a result, fans were quick to comment that they believe the pair will be this series' first couple.

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"Marry someone who talks about you like Pete talks about Jowita!" one commented.

"Sounds like Pete is falling in love," chipped in a second.

A third agreed: "I realllyyy hope they get together. It’s about time he got a gf."

And a fourth weighed in: Arrrgh so nice to see this sweet, vulnerable side to Pete."

a man in a leather vest stands next to a woman in a black dress
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The pair performed a Paso Doble on SaturdayCredit: Instagram
a woman with a tattoo on her arm stands next to a man in a leather vest
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Unfortunately the judges only gave them a score of 17Credit: BBC

Unfortunately for fans, Pete and Jowita had a rocky start to the competition on Saturday night's first performance show.

They performed a Paso Doble to The Prodigy track Firestarter, but the judges were not taken with it.

The pair scored 17 out of 40 points, tying with Paul Merson and Karen Hauer for the second from the bottom spot.

Right at the bottom of the leaderboard was Toyah Willcox and her pro partner Neil Jones, who got just 12 points for their Tango.

Strictly 2024 Week One Scoreboard

Here's how the first week scoreboard looked:

  1. JB and Amy = 31
  2. Tasha and Aljaz = 30
  3. Sarah and Vito = 30 
  4. Wynne and Katya = 26
  5. Montell and Johannes = 26
  6. Shayne and Nancy = 23
  7. Jamie and Michelle = 23
  8. Chris and Dianne = 23 
  9. Sam and Nikita = 21
  10. Dr Punam and Gorka = 19
  11. Tom and Nadiya = 18
  12. Nick and Luba = 18
  13. Pete and Jowita = 17
  14. Paul and Karen = 17
  15. Toyah and Neil = 12
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