OLIVIA Attwood’s plan to beat Pete Wicks’ ‘friends to lovers’ curse has been revealed as the couple’s romance becomes ‘special and serious’.
Pete, 37, has long been close to various high profile women, but it seems his relationship with ITV golden girl Olivia, 35, is far different from the rest.
Pete and Olivia’s eight-year-long friendship has recently developed into a romantic relationship, and there’s a clear sign that she is keen to protect herself from the “friends to lovers to exes” arc that Pete has often become embroiled in.
In a bid to ensure their relationship doesn’t end in the same way as his splits from other high profile women, Olivia has protected herself by doing one key thing.
Olivia hasn’t hard-launched Pete on social media, and is clearly letting him do all the leg work – with her keen to focus on herself, her career and the empire she is building.
Although there have been very subtle hints here and there, like when they went on a staycation together, and when they walked their dogs in the same place – Olivia has been reluctant to reveal, outright, that they are in a relationship.
Pete hard-launched their relationship on July 16, with Olivia not returning the favour with a blatantly obvious post since.
Unlike Liv, he’s also spoke candidly about his romance – with his pal Sam Thompson on their Staying Relevant podcast.
Last week, Sam cheekily asked Pete: “You were on your holidays?”
“Yes, I hadn’t seen Liv for two and a half weeks, so I went to see Liv,” replied Pete.
He quickly added: “Don’t make this a thing,” with Sam jokingly feigning shock.
“So I went to see Liv, it was wonderful to see her, been two and a half weeks. We had a fabulous time. I have really hurt my back because I was backflipping off boats.
“We went for lovely dinners, we went to clubs, we drank a lot, it was magical in probably the best way to describe it.”
Olivia has however only posted a video on TikTok, which features her and Pete’s dogs being fed on a rooftop, with Pete’s tattooed arm coming into shot momentarily.
She also shared a photo of their dogs together on her Instagram stories, which Pete reposted to his and penned: “Hard launch no.2.”
Speaking to The Sun about Olivia’s decision to keep things as private as possible, a source revealed: “What they have right now is special.
“Because her other relationships have played out so publicly, she’s making a conscious effort to keep it close to her chest.
“She’s aware that in the industry she’s in, people want to know details, but this time she wants to keep something back, to herself.
“It’s serious and a more grown up relationship.”
In contrast, PeteHe has also said rather a lot about Olivia, which is something he would never normally do with girlfriends.
Throughout his several years of fame, Pete has gotten close to a number of stunning reality stars.
In his days on The Only Way Is Essex, Pete was close to Chloe Sims, with them publicly known as “best friends”.
Pete and Ella Rae Wise also had a close bond on Towie, with them even referring to one another as “special friends”.
He also struck up a very close relationship with Maura Higgins, which transitioned from a long-time friendship into a private romance.
But they parted ways after she publicly spoke about their romance while appearing on I’m A Celebrity, and later worried that he might have been “messing around behind her back”.
Meanwhile, Olivia was in a relationship with Bradley Dack for an on-and-off period of 10 years, from when they first met in 2015 until their final split in January 2026.
Olivia and Pete met in 2017 at the Specsavers Awards in London, which was six years before she married Brad.
On the night she and Pete met, they were seated at the same table and spent the entire night chatting and joking around.
They remained friends for years before they launched their radio show, The Sunday Roast, on KISS FM.
But things heated up between them in 2025 when they went on holiday to Ibiza, and people started to get suspicious of their bond.
At the time, photos emerged of Liv and Pete looking close and cuddling on a yacht, which sparked rumours they were more than friends.
It was later revealed, following Olivia’s marriage split, that Bradley had long suspected something.
“He’s suspected things for the past year but she’s always denied it,” a source told The Sun in March 2026.
When cosy pictures of the pair on an Ibiza yacht trip first sparked rumours of something more than friends, Olivia brushed off speculation by saying: “I think it’s to be expected when you’ve got two straight people working together.”
She added at the time: “It happened when I first joined Towie and Pete and I became very close. We spent a lot of time together and there was a rumour mill spinning back then.”
Olivia had always downplayed her friendship with Pete, and even branded him “repulsive” two years before they got together.
Speaking on Olivia’s podcast Olivia’s House with her ex Bradley, the pair discussed some of the listeners’ dilemmas.
One listener shared how they were worried about how their boyfriend was texting one of their female friends every day.
Olivia shared her thoughts on the situation and said: “I am very sceptical about female and male relationships when they are both straight.
“I just feel like one side would always let it be more.
“One exception to this rule is Pete. No because we both find each other repulsive.
“But at the same time, Pete and I are friends. We don’t talk every day.”
She added: “I don’t like it personally.”