EX-TOWIE star Pete Wicks was spotted getting close to Love Islander Helena Ford at his Staying Relevant book launch last night.

The pair sat side-by-side, with the blonde bombshell unable to keep her hands off Pete.

They whispered together, and Helena rubbed the 36-year-old’s back, giving his shoulder a comforting squeeze as he faced a crowd of influencers.

Pete first met Helena, 29, a few months ago and described her as “really lovely”, as reported by What’s The Jam.

The reality stars exchanged flirty glances, just weeks after Pete shared a passionate kiss with Strictly co-star Jowita Pryzstal, 31.

Helena has previously been linked to Pete’s best pal, Sam Thompson, after posting a cheeky tweet on X.

She wrote: “Where do I apply to sit on @samthompsonuk FACE? Asking for a mate.”

Made in Chelsea star Sam Thompson, 33, met Helena for the first time on After Sun, where they cleared up the tweet incident – and she even joked about going to the hideaway.

The social media star clearly made a good impression on both Sam and Pete, securing a front-and-centre seat at the intimate book launch.

Helena stunned in a black sequin strapless two-piece, held together at the back by delicate string ties.

Pete was also seen posing for a photo with Helena while wearing a Pete Wicks mask, shared by Traitors star Leanne Quigley, captioned: “Who is the real Pete?”

Helena, who appeared on the latest series of Love Island, had an on-off romance with Harry Cooksley before he coupled up with Shakira Khan.

She was dumped from the Mallorca villa while in a friendship couple with Blu.

The ex-air hostess recently revealed she doubts she’ll be allowed back at her old job following her stint in the villa.

Meanwhile, Pete and Helena’s PDA comes after he revealed he was “in love” with a mystery woman in August.

He made the confession on a Staying Relevant podcast episode, where he teased details of a secret romance.

Pete took part in a lie detector test with best pal Sam Thompson.

Sam fired questions at Pete while he was hooked up to the machine.

Sam cheekily asked: “Are you in love with somebody right now?”

Pete answered ‘no’, but he was proven to be lying after polygraph examiner Mark insisted he wasn’t telling the truth.

Looking at the graph, Mark gave the camera a thumbs down as a sign that Pete hadn’t been honest.

Sam screamed: “Ahhh I knew it! And that’s all we’re going to say,” to which Pete replied: “How could you do that to me?”