Pete Wicks makes a really public declaration of affection for Maura Higgins – after the I’m A Celeb star confirmed they had been relationship

Pete Wicks made a very public declaration of love for Maura on Sunday after the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Star confirmed they were dating. 

The former TOWIE star, 36, who was seen kissing the former Love Island star, 34, a few weeks ago after cooling his romantic liaison with partner Jowita Przystal, 30, took to his Instagram to urge viewers to vote for Maura and posted some hearts. 

Reposting a funny meme of Maura on the ITV show, Pete captioned the post with: ‘I’ve been George of the Jungle but now it’s time to vote for Maura of the Jungle.

He also shared a voting link on his Stories for his 1.8m followers to click on to keep Maura in the jungle. 

In the snap, which was originally posted on the show’s Instagram account, Maura could be seen having a hilarious conversation with her new pal Reverend Richard Coles, 62. 

Pete’s post comes after Maura appeared to confirm she has been dating the Strictly star as she made a rare comment about her love life during Sunday’s show.

Since entering the jungle the star has insisted she was single – despite her kissing Pete a few weeks ago. 

When asked by Oti Mabuse whether or not she was single, Maura replied: ‘I am but I was seeing someone before I came in but I’m not in a relationship.’ 

Reverend Richard then asked: ‘Was it exclusive? Or if I’ve put you on the spot, sorry!’, to which she replied after a long pause: ‘I dunno’.

After being quizzed on if it was someone the public might know she answered coyly: ‘Yeah’ before admitting that she was missing him since entering camp.

Maura admitted that she thought she had never been in love, Richard described looking for his late partner David in a crowd and feeling his heart go, as Dean said: ‘I know that feeling.’

The Radio 1 DJ then asked about her current situation: ‘Does it feel different this time?’

Maura answered: ‘It does, but then is it because we’ve known each other for a long time?’

Richard added: ‘You’d know if he was an a**hole or not, by now, as the stunner smiled to herself, and replied: ‘Yeah, he’s not an a**hole.’

It comes as The Mail on Sunday revealed that Pete has put a stop to his romantic liaison with Jowita – because he is determined to win the heart of Maura.

Sources close to Pete say he is telling friends he is completely smitten with the jungle star who he has been casually dating for the past five months.

When he began Strictly and met Jowita, Maura gave up any hope of the relationship continuing.

A friend said: ‘Before Maura entered the jungle, Pete wanted to make their relationship exclusive.’

‘But Maura, aware of Pete’s reputation and his close bond with Jowita, decided to slow things down.’

‘She gave him an ultimatum: either commit to her or let it go. So she went off a single woman.’

‘Since then, Pete has gone all-in, openly expressing his feelings to anyone who’ll listen.’

Pete and Jowita have been competing on Strictly together since September, and in recent weeks, sources have claimed they have been secretly seeing each other away from the show.

Insiders claimed ‘something has changed’ between the reality star and the professional dancer in recent weeks and they have been secretly seeing each other away from the show.

At the beginning of the series, they were said to have ‘sent tongues wagging’ between the cast and crew due to their sizzling chemistry, with viewers even spotting their close connection.

‘The chemistry between them has been pretty clear since the moment they met but in the last few weeks something has changed and they’ve started seeing each other away from the show,’ a source told The Sun.

‘They’ve tried to keep it low-key but they often travel together rather than getting separate cars to different locations.’

‘And they’re so tactile backstage it has become pretty obvious something is going on. Everyone is talking about the fact they seem closer than ever.’