4 weeks ago
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Maura Higgins has spoken out about her ‘rival’ Olivia Attwood’s ‘secret romance’ with Pete Wicks.
34-year-old presenter Olivia and 37-year-old podcaster Pete were pictured puckering up in a London restaurant recently, making it clear that they’ve taken their friendship to the next level.
This comes only two months after Olivia’s split from footballer husband Bradley Dack.
Maura, 35, who dated Pete in the winter of 2024, is apparently unbothered by the budding romance.
Sources close to Maura told The Daily Mail: ‘She couldn’t care less. There is absolutely zero love lost there with Pete, and besides, she’s on to way bigger and better things. In fact, she’s laughing from across the Atlantic.’
One of her friends said of her fling with Pete: ‘The relationship was real for Maura but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t considered low-rent for her.’
Another added: ‘The fact that he’s now dating Olivia Attwood is laughable, Maura knows she dodged a bad boyfriend there.’
In February, it was said Maura and Pete had gone their separate ways after keeping mostly quiet about their blossoming romance.
It was then reported they ‘remained close’ and still had a ‘deep connection’, despite deciding to call things off.
‘There have been a few clashes, and it was eventually agreed they were better off as friends,’ a source told MailOnline.
However, it was later reported that Maura discovered Pete was messaging ‘loads’ of girls online and subsequently called it off after six months together.
She added fuel to these rumours when, while leaving a restaurant on Valentine’s Day, she was asked by a fan where Pete was, to which she replied: ‘I don’t know, probably cheating.’
There’s also, famously, no love lost between Olivia and Maura, who have reportedly had a tense relationship for years.
Friends close to Olivia have previously claimed she is frustrated by Maura stepping into the same professional spaces and ‘copying’ her career.
The latest alleged incident came after Maura shared an Instagram photo with Parisian fashion influencer Michael Coste. The post appeared just days after Olivia had shared a near-identical image with him.
A source told The Sun at the time: ‘Olivia is obviously going through a lot at the moment and trying to piece her life back together, but she has been left bemused that Maura has continued to mirror her playbook. She even jokes with her friends that Maura is her stalker.
‘There is no love lost between them and they have become very skilled at ignoring each other on the red carpet and at parties. Olivia is just amazed that these things keep happening, although she knows that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.’
Olivia first appeared on Love Island in 2017, two years before Maura, and sources claim she became irritated last year when Maura signed with PR agency Align, which specialises in developing careers in the US.
Olivia had been working with the agency first, after both women were previously represented by Dundas Communications.
An insider said the situation became awkward when they were put forward for similar opportunities. Olivia is said to have decided to move on after feeling the overlap was becoming uncomfortable.
Their professional similarities have continued, with both securing shoots for The Times and becoming regular fixtures on reality and daytime television.
Each has also appeared on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, while growing their profiles in the US.
Awkwardness reportedly peaked at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards in New York last November, where Olivia and Maura arrived wearing strikingly similar black dresses.
And now, it appears Olivia is following in Maura’s footsteps by dating Pete, something Maura was previously worried about.
Pete announced a new Kiss FM radio show, The Sunday Roast, co-hosted with Olivia, just weeks after his split from Maura. Sources claimed Maura was unhappy about his friendship with Olivia at the time and questioned his decision to work with her.
A source told the Sun: ‘Pete didn’t help the situation with Maura and Olivia, as Maura wasn’t happy with their friendship.
‘She asked him if he really had to do the radio show with Olivia, as she felt his loyalties should lie with her.
‘The whole situation left her feeling uneasy.’
More recently, a source told Closer Magazine that Olivia has ‘always been drawn to Pete’ and ‘carried a torch for him’ – possibly even while he was with Maura.
Of their hidden relationship, the publication’s insider added: ‘The secrecy has made it exciting, and they’ve spent a lot of time together – they love nights in watching movies together.’
Noting that Olivia and Pete ‘can’t keep their hands off each other,’ they went on to shed some light on their relationship’s dynamic.
‘Olivia is quite dramatic and intense, whereas Pete is very laid back, but somehow it works.’
According to The Sun, Pete and Olivia struck up their romance at the Brit Awards in February, and later stayed at the same hotel.
Another source clarified: ‘Their passionate romance only started in the last few weeks, since she has split from Bradley; there was no overlap.’
Whether or not there was any overlap with Maura and Pete’s relationship – even if it was just an emotional connection – seems less certain.
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