Strictly Come Dancing is known for its ‘curse’ that sees celebrities fall for their professional dance partners and vice versa, making and breaking a series of relationships over its 20-year reign…
… And the 2024 series has been no different! The rumour mill has been in overdrive since Maura Higgins was first linked to this year’s contestant Pete Wicks in August.
Ahead of going into the I’m A Celeb jungle, Maura has put everyone straight about her relationship status and shut down all the chatter around her and Pete.
She told the Daily Mail: ‘I’m not [in a relationship with Pete]. I’ve been on dates with many people. I mean, I date, but I’m very much single. Everyone goes on dates.’
Well, that’s that then. Maura’s comments come just days after she and Pete were seen at composer Ludovico Einaudi’s concert in London but it sounds like they’re just friends.
Pic: Kate Green/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA
Maura was fresh out of her relationship with Chris Hemsworth’s stuntman Bobby Holland Hanton when chatter they were an item started to heat up and snaps emerged appearing to show her and Pete locking lips on a lunch date.
It was then announced that Pete would compete on the upcoming series of Strictly, which gave Maura a chance to have the most epic response to romance rumours.
Referencing the photos, which were obtained by The Sun, Maura wrote: ‘According to The Sun… I know what those hips can do. PROUD OF YOU!!!’
Pic: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for the NTAs
In another gas clapback moment, Pete’s best pal Sam Thompson posed for a snap with Maura which saw the Irishwoman sporting a t-shirt with the photo of her and Pete kissing along with a bold caption: ‘We can’t be friends’.
After that, both Maura and Pete maintained a tight-lipped approach to their rumoured romance and instead, Pete was linked to his Strictly dance partner Jowita Przystal.
Strictly fans are going wild over Pete and Jowita’s electric chemistry both on and off the dance floor, but the former has vehemently denied that there’s anything going on between them.
Interestingly, Jowita was linked to Maura’s ex Giovanni Pernice at the end of 2022; however, nothing ever came of the romance rumours between the pair.
It fell silent for a while there, but Maura fired up the rumour mill once more when she shared an intimate clip of herself and Pete attempting a viral dance move from Dancing with the Stars.
One TikTok user questioned: ‘Wait, are they together?’, while another wrote: ‘giggling and kicking my feet.’
@maurahiggins A few concussions later… #fyp ♬ original sound – DWTS.Brookes.favs
It seemed as though Maura and Pete had all but confirmed their apparent romance; however, at the Pride of Britain Awards, Maura was spotted looking cosy with Strictly pro Kai Widdrington, who recently split from his co-star Nadiya Bychkova.
The pair looked close as they frolicked around in London’s Grosvenor Hotel together after the awards ceremony, with Kai wrapping his arms around Maura and later twirling her before they headed into a different room together.
Pic: Mike Marsland/WireImage
If you’re like us, you’re probably totally confused by who’s with whom and who fancies whom… there are links between Strictly stars flying around left, right and centre.
Let’s all keep our fingers crossed for a relationship hard launch- at this stage, we’re not picky about which relationship!