Strictly’s Pete Wicks breaks down in tears as he escapes dance off and reaches the semi-finals

PETE Wicks started crying on Strictly Come Dancing tonight as the show host announced that he made it through to the semi-finals.

The former TOWIE star seemed shocked to hear the news that he had been saved by the public vote.

Last night Pete found himself at the bottom of the leaderboard after his Waltz went wrong, and he was heavily critiqued by the judges for his performance.

Craig Revel Horwood slammed his footwork for being "shoddy", and even Anton Du Beke called the dance "a bit of a disaster".

It's clear that Pete expected to face the dreaded dance-off tonight after receiving such a poor reception to his Waltz.

Even before the judges gave their verdicts, he could be seen clinging to his pro partner Jowita and trying to fight back the tears as he apologised for his performance.

But no amount of shoddy footwork seems to have stopped audience members from voting in Pete's favour.

Claudia Winkleman kicked off tonight's episode of the BBC show by reading out the names of the dancing duos who had made it through to the semi-finals after the public got the chance to vote.

After a few moments of suspense, she revealed that Pete and Jowita were the first couple to make it through to the next round of the competition.

Overcome by emotion after hearing the announcement, Pete shook his head and burst into tears.

Meanwhile his excited partner Jowita squealed and jumped on him.

He could be seen blinking back the tears during their embrace.

When asked how he feels about being saved by the public later on the couch, Pete told Claudia: "I'm speechless every week, especially this week.

"I didn't want to let her down tonight by messing it up and I'm so pleased."

He then joked about his tears earlier, saying that was because he realised he'd have to learn two dances for the upcoming semi-finals and was unsure his capabilities stretched that far.