PETE Wicks claims Towie won’t be cancelled over the coronavirus crisis like Love Island and insists lockdown could benefit the reality show.
The ITVBe series was due to begin filming in March before strict lockdown rules forced the cast and crew to postpone production.
Now Pete, 31, is hoping the show will return in September when the second of its biannual series usually airs.
Speaking exclusively to HOAR Online, he said: “I think Towie can do social distancing. It’s completely different to Love Island. Celebs Go Dating… it’d be hard to date with social distancing, wouldn’t it? [laughs]
“But Towie we film a couple of hours a day and generally a lot of it is in open spaces.
“The chances of Towie coming back are fairly high I would have said, in comparison.”
The deadly virus has wreaked havoc with TV productions and scheduling.
ITV chief Kevin Lygo recently confirmed the summer edition of Love Island won’t be happening this year while E4’s Celebs Go Dating has been postponed.
Pete admitted he didn’t know when Towie would resume filming but said show bosses are in regular contact with the cast.
He said: “We were just about to start before lockdown. We should be filming now. We’re not entirely sure what’s happening with that.
“The second series is supposed to start in September, so it may be the series doesn’t happen and we start a new one in September, or we start as soon as lockdown’s done, I’m not entirely sure.
“It’s impacted on my summer quite a bit. You should’ve been seeing a fair bit of me on TV, but that’s not happening at the minute.
“I don’t think people realise how much of a long road back it’s going to be. Especially for a lot of the TV stuff, as much as it’s our livelihood, it’s not essential.”
Towie is known for its explosive drama and turbulent relationships, but Pete believes the coronavirus crisis will put a lot of that into perspective.
“It might give everyone a bit of a break to get on for a change,” he said. “Having a bit of a break from everyone has done the show some favours, to be honest with ya. By doing that, everyone gets themselves on an even keel, some of the dramas suddenly become less relevant.
But anyone looking forward to a new era of calm on the show shouldn’t expect it to last long.
Pete added: “It’s Towie though isn’t, after a week everyone will probably f*****g hate each other [laughs].”
Away from Towie, Pete recorded eight episodes of his debut podcast series Just A Little Prick before lockdown began.
Episode eight was released today and features legendary artist Doc Price, 87.
On Instagram, Pete wrote: “We chat about how the tattoo industry has changed over the years and the strangest tattoos he’s done. It’s f*****g gruesome. Then he tattoos me…swipe to see what I had done…I’m still speechless.”
And the heavily inked star is relishing making more.
He said: “It’s one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. I’m technically a bit backward, I’d never listened to a podcast before, and I’m useless at stuff like that, but I absolutely loved it.
“Mine was quite niche to do with tattoos, but the guests we had on was not really about tattoos, it was about people’s life stories. This may be my new forte in life, I may become a podcast king.”
