Pete Wicks hits back at ‘affair claims’ with Zara McDermott

PETE Wicks hit back at 'affair claims' with Zara McDermott while his best friend Sam Thompson competes in the I'm A Celeb jungle.

The 35-year-old sparked romance speculation after spending increased amounts of time with Sam's beau.

Pete addressed the claims to magazine stating: "I love Zara - she's a sweetheart."

Regarding the rumours, Pete said: "Me and Zara find it quite funny.

"That's the problem with social media everyone's got an opinion. Sam is my brother, and Zara is a very good friend of mine. We just laugh about it."

The Towie star then reiterated that he would not date Zara even if she was single. He said: "I absolutely adore Zara, but she's not my cup of tea and I don't think she'd last five minutes.

"Me and Sam could not be any more different. They're such a great couple and love them to bits.

"It's just sad that people can't understand that girls and guys can be mates. It's ridiculous."

Zara rose to fame after appearing on the fourth series of Love Island.

The 26-year-old joined Strictly Come Dancing a few months ago before becoming the fifth celebrity to be voted off.

With her time at Strictly being cut short, Zara had enough time to visit Sam down under.

Sam, however, insisted he wanted his pal Pete to be on the other side for his exit.