Pete Wicks: "I don't understand why more people who have a platform don't give a voice to the voiceless"

Pete Wicks is very much a dog person. In fact, he thinks they’re “better than people”, he tells Radio Times exclusively.

In Pete Wicks: For Dogs’ Sake, now in its third series, he follows the work of the Dogs Trust centre in Basildon, where he rescued his French bulldog Eric in 2016. His French bulldog Peggy, who he adopted in 2018, recently passed away, and he revealed he’s adopted four-month old Rodney from Dogs Trust.

“Whatever love you give dogs, you get back tenfold. People are quite cruel. I cannot abide by people who don't treat animals with respect. I don't understand why more people who have a bit of a platform don't give a voice to the voiceless. That’s what I try to do in any way I possibly can. It means a lot to me,” Wicks says.

Series one of Pete Wicks: For Dogs’ Sake was awarded the Best Popular Factual Programme at the Broadcast Digital Awards. At the rehoming centre, the 37-year-old works with the staff who he calls “heroes”.

In tonight’s episode, which airs on U&W at 9pm, he helps them rescue three puppies who were illegally brought into the country. He also meets new mum Keira (in the video below), who has arrived on the brink of starvation. She’s given immediate care, but her case becomes even more complicated.

It makes for a tear-jerking watch, and Wicks doesn’t mind crying on camera when he’s touched by the stories. “It's something I didn't grow up with – that being the right response to things. It was: men are supposed to be a certain way, but it's absolutely wrong. Being vulnerable is one of the bravest things you can do. That release is important. Men cry too.”

When was the last time he cried? “About a week ago [at the time of interview], but I’m not gonna say over what.

“I imagine a lot of people think I'm quite arrogant, and I would hope that I'm not, because it's a horrible trait to have. I think people probably misjudge me based on the way I look, the tattoos and everything else. Actually, really, I'm just a big softie. I spend more time crying than I do anything else.”

Wicks made his first TV appearance in The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE) in 2015 and was a main cast member until 2021. He’s since appeared on Strictly Come Dancing and Celebs Go Dating.

“Back then, there was only Geordie Shore, TOWIE and Made in Chelsea. It wasn’t necessarily a career many of us were doing. I didn’t really know what I was getting into. The TV landscape was completely different then,” Wicks reflects.

“I didn't have any social media when I first joined TV. I'm not a big fan of it. I do it because it's kind of work, but if I didn't do this job, I wouldn't have any at all. I'd just live in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by dogs and goats.”

He’s not a fan of reality TV and has never watched any of the shows he’s starred in, only For Dogs’ Sake, because as associate producer, he sees the cuts and edits. He explains, “You sometimes start to self-edit and then look at all the things you think are wrong with yourself." His team keep telling him he needs to go on The Celebrity Traitors and Race Across the World – shows he’s also never seen. “They sound like fun!”

Wicks also co-hosts the podcast Staying Relevant with best mate Sam Thompson. “I think Sam and I are still trying to figure out how to f**king stay relevant,” he jokes. “It's just two mates catching up. Selfishly, started the project so we could do that. He’s annoying, but he’s my annoying.”

Wicks also has Man Made, a podcast on YouTube, where he discusses masculinity with his guests, but what’s the one question he’d like to be asked? “No one has ever asked me what makes me happy. The answer to that is motorbikes and dogs.

“Being on the motorbike is the only time I don't really have anything else in my brain. It’s like meditation for me – and being around dogs is when I am the most happy, the most content, and when I feel the most safe. They're my happy places.”

Wicks calls himself a workaholic and says he always has to be busy. He’s also had bad insomnia since he was a child. “I don’t sleep very much. I only really get three, four hours a night. My body’s just kind of used to it now. My brain is quite overactive with a lot of different things."

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Wicks has also written three books, For the Love of Frenchies: The Dogs that Changed My Life, Never Enough, and Staying Relevant: The Book with Thompson. While juggling various projects, he ensures he shows up as his authentic self for them all. “If you start being what everyone else wants you to be, then you kind of lose who you are. That's a really dangerous place to be in for so many reasons.

“I've made so many mistakes over the years, but I've never forgotten who I am. I think it's really, really important to be very selective about the people you have around you. They're the ones that will notice changes if you start to lose yourself, if you get carried away with the noise.

“I've got a close group of people that I've known for a really long time who will always tell me when I'm wrong. Their opinion matters to me. What someone who's never met me but has seen me on TV thinks of me, I don't really care. You put yourself in a position where you're in the public eye, everyone is going to have opinions, and you can't moan about that, but not everyone's opinions are relevant to you.

“If you can put your head on the pillow at the end of the day and think you're a good person, then you're doing something right.”

Brand new episodes of Pete Wicks: For Dogs’ Sake are available to stream for free on U right now. Episode three airs tonight, 19 January, on U&W at 9pm.

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