Pete Wicks has showed his feelings for Maura Higgins after cooling his romantic liason with his Strictly partner Jowita Przystal.

The current Strictly Come Dancing star, 36, was seen kissing Maura, 33, a few weeks ago but when Maura entered the jungle last month she insisted she was single.

Pete has showed that he still has her on his mind as he reposted Maura’s Instagram which is being run by her friends and family while she’s Down Under – and urging people to vote for her.

He quipped: ‘I’ve been George of the Jungle but now its time to vote for Maura of the Jungle’.

And Maura’s family have shown their support for Pete in return as they also shared a clip of him and Jowita on Strictly.

Posting a sweet video of the pair dancing under the glitterball, they penned in the Saturday night post: ‘waltzing into the quarter final like… known em dead tony!!

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Pete Wicks has showed his feelings for Maura Higgins after cooling his romantic liason with his Strictly partner Jowita Przystal

‘Best of luck tonight @p_wicks01 we are all supporting you.’

The post 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, 34, 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 had claimed they have been secretly seeing each other away from the show.

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Pete has showed that he still has her on his mind as he reposted Maura’s Instagram which is being run by her friends and family while she’s Down Under – and urging people to vote for her

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 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.’

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And Maura’s family have shown their support for Pete in return as they also shared a clip of him and Jowita on Strictly

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It comes amid mounting speculation that Pete had been ‘secretly seeing’ his Strictly Come Dancing partner Jowita Przystal (pictured together on Saturday)

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

Strictly’s Jowita returns to Pete’s podcast ‘by popular demand’

Back in October, Pete shut down rumours of a romance between him and Jowita during a joint appearance on This Morning.

Host Alison Hammond began their interview, by asking: ‘Do you actually listen to the judges or are you just in your own little world?’

Pete admitted: ‘I’m just in my own little world, we’re in a bit of a bubble when we dance!’ causing Alison to jump to the opportunity to probe them about their rumoured relationship, cheekily asking: ‘Is it a love bubble?’

However, Pete insisted: ‘It’s not a love bubble unfortunately…’ before poking fun at Alison, saying: ‘I mean you came in early, that was about 30 seconds before you went in with it!’

Alison laughed and confessed: ‘I was straight in there!’ as Pete continued: ‘You were straight in there! No, it’s not a love bubble, we have great chemistry because we’ve become such good friends.’

Gesturing to Jowita, he gushed: ‘She’s one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met, genuinely, not just in the dancing side of things but outside of that and I think that helps us with the whole dancing thing.’

Alison asked if the pair found the constant speculation about the nature of their relationship tiresome, to which Pete admitted: ‘Yeah, it’s always the same, I’m used to it.’

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Pete was also linked to Love Island star Maura, but in an exclusive interview with MailOnline ahead of her jungle stint, she insisted that she is ‘single’

Maura left outraged at having to pay for the toilet

Pete was also linked to Love Island star Maura, but in an exclusive interview with MailOnline ahead of her jungle stint, she insisted that she is ‘single’.

When asked if she is in a relationship with Pete, Maura said: ‘I’m not. I’ve been on dates with many people. I mean, I date, but I’m very much single. Everyone goes on dates.’

She added: ‘It is quite scary going in later. They have all met and got to know each other.

‘It’s never easy being the newbie, but I am not a shy person, so I feel like I will be fine. It will be nice to bring some energy to the camp.

‘I am single at the moment, but honestly no-one is going to fancy me in the jungle. Trust me!’

She also insisted that Pete will not be flying to Australia to meet her across the famous I’m A Celeb bridge when her time on the show comes to an end.

Maura shared: ‘I know nothing, he’s not said that to me anyway.’

The pair were spotted kissing at numerous red carpet events such as the Pride of Britain Awards, with Maura previously speaking about how the pair have been friends for many years.