Pete Wicks has opened up about the severe backlash he received following his split from Megan McKenna, 

revealing the intense personal toll the public’s reaction took on him. 

The former *TOWIE* star, who is now 37, reflected on the emotional and psychological distress he endured 

after his infidelity became a major storyline on the reality TV show. 

He cheated on Megan, 32, in 2016, and their relationship

which had highs and lows—became one of the most talked-about topics on the program. 

Pete described how, after the scandal broke, he was inundated with daily death threats and public abuse. The cruel treatment he faced extended beyond online harassment; Pete shared that people physically spat on him in the street and sent him disturbing messages, including videos of dolls being burned and hung from trees. These actions were the manifestation of the intense anger and hatred aimed at him, a backlash that turned him into a figure of national scorn.

“I have never experienced… it’s really hard when I looked back on it to think about how bad it was,” Pete said during a recent appearance on the *We Need To Talk* podcast with Paul C. Brunson. “At the time, I was going through a breakup with Megan, and everyone knew the ins and outs of it. I was getting death threats daily, I had people spit at me in the streets, I had people send me videos of dolls they made hanging from trees that they were burning. I had a lot at the time. I felt like I was a national hate figure, like public enemy number one.”

Pete admitted that while the public reaction was difficult to endure, his main concern was the impact his actions had on Megan. “But all I was bothered about at the time was Megan and the fact that I lost Megan and had upset her. I felt so, so guilty,” he said, reflecting on the emotional weight of the situation. 

Megan has also spoken about the emotional toll the relationship and the drama surrounding it took on her. She previously described her time on *The Only Way Is Essex* as one of the “most miserable times” of her life. Pete’s honesty about the pain he caused both himself and Megan sheds light on how the intensity of their public breakup took its toll on both of them.

The 2016 cheating scandal left Pete feeling utterly overwhelmed, and he acknowledged that the vitriol he received was hard to process. “The annoying thing is people say, ‘If you’re in the public eye, then you put yourself in for these sort of things,'” he explained. “And completely, you put yourself in a position where you allow people to make judgments and have opinions.” However, Pete emphasized that no one, regardless of their public status, deserves to be targeted with death threats. 

He continued: “You know, I was even getting death threats through *Strictly* for still being in the competition because there were better dancers leaving. And it does get to the point where I don’t think anyone deserves death threats. It does get a bit f****** silly. Don’t get me wrong, I was in the wrong and always held my hands up about that. But it was something between Megan and I.”

Despite the negative attention, Pete has always taken responsibility for his actions. “I never meant to hurt her, and obviously, I did. But the attention that that got and what that brought with it, I was just dumbfounded. I didn’t know what to do,” he confessed. He also shared that the experience made him more cautious and private about his personal life moving forward. “It’s made me wary of people and has made me more private. That’s when I realized from that point, there are two [of] me—the private me and the very public me.”

Pete and Megan’s romance began in 2016, a year after Pete joined *TOWIE*. Despite their highly publicized relationship and tumultuous breakup, the two later reconciled as friends, notably on *Celebs Go Dating*. Pete admitted that their relationship was far from perfect and acknowledged that he made mistakes early on. “About three or four months into us being together, I made a few mistakes,” he said. “I was messaging other women. When I start to get feelings for someone, I feel vulnerable.”

Today, Pete and Megan maintain an amicable relationship. Pete’s candid reflections on the backlash and his past mistakes offer a glimpse into the emotional complexities behind their story and the very real consequences of living life under the public eye.

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