Keir Starmer has been interviewed by reality TV star Pete Wicks as he desperately hunts for ways to revive his political fortunes.

The PM is making what has been billed as a highly personal appearance on The Only Way is Essex alumnus’s podcast Man Made.

The pair discuss the death of Sir Keir’s brother in the programme, which focuses on modern masculinity and men’s mental health.

Downing Street has been scrabbling for ways of getting back on track after a dire first 16 months in power – and with speculation mounting about Sir Keir’s position.

Labour has been targeting influencers and podcasters in an effort to get more positive messages to the public. Prime front-row spots were reserved for ‘content creators’ at a recent Rachel Reeves speech.

The strategy has echoes of Ed Miliband’s approach during the disastrous 2015 election campaign, when he appeared on comedian Russell Brand‘s YouTube show to urge people to vote.

The sense of turmoil at the heart of government escalated last week after an extraordinary briefing operation against Sir Keir’s Cabinet rivals backfired.

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Recorded at 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister opens up about his views on the biggest challenges facing young men today

The PM was forced to defend his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney when Health Secretary Wes Streeting publicly attacked No10’s ‘toxic culture’ and ‘self-destruction’.

It then emerged that the premier and Chancellor Rachel Reeves had performed a shambolic U-turn on plans to increase income tax at the Budget, despite weeks of blatant hints.

A YouGov poll has found 23 per cent of Labour supporters think the party leader should quit now and elect someone else.

A further 22 per cent believe he should give up his role at some point before the next election.

Only a third, 34 per cent, said he should continue to lead the Labour Party into the contest.

Sir Keir made another attempt to shore up his position in an interview with The Mirror today.

Asked whether he would lead Labour into the next election, he said: ‘Yes, I will. Let me be really clear – every minute that’s not spent talking about and dealing with the cost of living is a minute wasted of the political work of this Government.

‘That’s my response to last week. I remain utterly focused on what matters to me most, which is bearing down on the cost of living and making people feel better off.

‘I’m very conscious of the fact that people want to get on in life, they want to progress, they want more money in their pocket to do the things that matter to them.’

The chat with Pete Wicks was recorded at 10 Downing Street, and is set to be released on Friday as part of Men’s Mental Health Month.

The PM is said to open up about his views on the challenges facing young men today.

He also talks about how his view on masculinity changed after becoming a father and reflects on how he coped with the tragic loss of his brother Nick.

Keir, whose brother died on Boxing Day at the age of 60, discusses being with him when he received his cancer diagnosis and balancing his duties in No10 with personal grief.

Pete first rose to fame when he joined the cast of The Only Way Is Essex back in 2015, having previously been working in London for a recruitment company, before making his first appearance on the show as a friend of star James Locke.

While he first earned a reputation on the show as a lothario, in recent years he’s rebranded himself as a TV favourite, thanks to his close friendship with Sam Thompson, their successful podcast together and a well-publicised stint on Strictly Come Dancing last year.

Growing up in Essex, Pete has previously shared that until the age of 11 he had a relatively happy childhood with his mum, dad and sister, as well as a close bond with his grandmother Doreen.

However, things changed when his parents divorced, and his relationship with his father broke down.

He said that while at first he would see him on occasions, he found their meetings ‘forced and awkward.’

Writing in his book Never Enough: My Words Unfiltered, Pete shared that while his relationship with his father briefly returned to normal during a scuba-diving holiday, they eventually lost touch when he relocated to the Middle East.

He wrote: ‘Looking back, I don’t blame him for f*****g off. I think he was struggling with everything that happened a lot more than he let on. But, at the time, I just thought: clearly I’m not enough for him to want to stay.’

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After growing up in Essex, Pete’s career was kickstarted in 2015 when he made a guest appearance on TOWIE alongside James Locke, and went onto star on the show until 2023

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While he left viewers in hysterics due to his dry sense of humour, it was his love life that dominated the show, including a fiery romance with Megan McKenna

Speaking to Jamie Laing on his Private Parts podcast earlier this year, Pete added: ‘I have nothing to do with him, don’t speak to him at all.

‘My dad’s not a bad person – he’s a good guy. We just don’t have a relationship and that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. We don’t have a relationship and that’s that. Not much I can do about it.

‘It hasn’t stopped me from wanting to be around people who do bring something to your life.’

Speaking also spoke about his relationship with his father on Celebs Go Dating, saying: ‘Him leaving didn’t just affect me. My mum was not in a great way for a good few years. And I didn’t really get a chance to process what I needed to process because I had to make sure she was alright.’

When asked about the impact it had on him, he replied: ‘It made me become the man I am and part of what I am, which I’m grateful for. But it’s not his fault. A lot of that is probably my fault as well.’

The star shared that in the wake of his parents’ divorce, he ‘bottled up his emotions’ until they began to spill out in outbursts of anger.

He shared that he would attempt to ‘rile people up,’ and pick a fight with others, and was even branded an ‘animal’ by one parent after clashing with another player during a rugby match.

Writing in his memoir, he detailed how it was an incident at a family funeral that made him realise his behaviour wasn’t healthy.

He wrote that he ended up ‘squaring up’ to a relative who he ‘didn’t get on with,’ adding: ‘I had generally always been really calm around my nan – she made me feel calm – and it was the first time she had seen me like that, and she wasn’t able to help.

‘It really upset her… I know she was really worried about me. That’s when I thought: ”S**t. This is actually not okay.”

Pete has since shared that his anger has ‘dissipated’ in recent years, and he mainly puts it down to the fact that he’s ‘grown up’ and ‘started to understand himself better.’

Throughout his life, Pete has maintained a close relationship with his mum Tracy, although the star has also shared how he saved her life when he was just 12-years-old after he found her in the kitchen after an attempted suicide.

Referring to his mum as ‘the strongest woman I know, she’s my hero,’ Pete explained he came down into the kitchen to find Tracy sitting at the table covered with blood while holding a knife in one hand.

Pete recalled how he was terrified and immediately called his nan Doreen for help before also dialling 999.

As he waited for the ambulance, the star tried to stem the flow of blood and keep his mum alive as he recalled: ‘I just went into crisis mode’.

He wrote: ‘I saw her sitting at the table, which had been covered in blood. I saw the blood dripping first. She was holding a knife in her other hand.

‘Immediately, I ran over to her to take the knife from her hand. Before that, she had seemed almost possessed – it was like my mum had gone and someone (or something) else had taken over her body.’

‘But when I came over to her, it’s like she woke up. She looked up at me with eyes full of tears. ‘I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,’ she kept repeating.

‘I told her it was okay as I panicked trying to work out what to do. I called Nan. I could barely get the words out to describe what had happened. I think I basically just said, ‘Mum… knife… blood.’

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Last year, Pete was also repeatedly linked to former Love Island star Maura Higgins, but they parted ways earlier this year

Pete’s nan, who passed away in June 2022, instructed him to hang up and call an ambulance, as he continued in the book: ‘I took her instructions, calling the ambulance, and then I got to work trying to look after Mum, who by that point was sitting on the floor and bleeding very badly.

‘I grabbed towels to try to stop the bleeding. I poured the wine down the sink. It’s hard to pinpoint how I felt in that moment, because I think it was just pure shock. I didn’t cry – I just went into crisis mode.’

Pete wrote his new book to destigmatise talking openly about mental health and has recalled how the aftermath of the trauma had a huge effect on his life.

He explained he became incredibly protective of Tracy, who raised him as a single mum after she split from Pete’s dad when Pete was 11.

He wrote: ‘I didn’t say it, but I believed it was my fault. I had been with Mum before it happened. I had agreed to go upstairs. I had stayed upstairs even though I could hear her wailing. If it was anyone’s fault, it was mine.

‘Looking back, I know that my responsibility was probably overwhelming in that moment. I was the child, and I needed to be looked after.

‘Instead, I had to look after my parent and suppress all the fear, panic, loneliness and self-blame that was beginning to grow inside me.’

Fortunately Tracy made a fast recovery, and apologised to her son, describing it as a ‘moment of madness’ that would never happen again.

In 2022, Pete was also left devastated by the death of his beloved grandmother, who he described as his ‘best friend.’

The star described her as his ‘biggest support’ during his turbulent teenage years, and even has a tattoo in her honour.

Writing his memoir, Pete said: ‘The day she died, I had been in London seeing friends. Mum called me and told me I needed to get to the hospital quickly.

‘Mum and I sat either side of her, holding each hand. I can remember the last words she said to me as if it were yesterday: ”You’re my soulmate”.’

To help him cope, Pete said earlier this year he has ‘a very good circle of strong women’ around him who help him process his feelings.

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While he’s previously painted himself as a hard-nosed bad-boy, Pete has overcome his fair share of family struggles during his rise to fame

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Following his parents’ split when he was 11, he became estranged from his father when he moved to the Middle East (Pete is pictured as a child)

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In his candid memoir Never Enough, Pete also revealed he saved his mum Tracy’s life when he was just 12-years-old after he found her in the kitchen after an attempted suicide

He said on Lorraine last month: ‘She was amazing Doreen, just an angel on earth. She had a major impact on my life and loosing her is the toughest thing I’ve ever been through.

‘She was more than a grandma she was my best friend. You can’t really understand your own emotions and feelings. Mine came out as anger because I couldn’t process what I was feeling.

‘I surround myself with a very good circle of strong women, it’s really important.

‘Women are so much more important at understanding and getting through difficult situations.

‘The boys go to the pub and it’s like ‘you alright, how are you’ and that’s it. It does make a massive difference, it’s not just about talking it’s having someone just to listen.’

Pete has since shared that he’s hoping to play tribute to Doreen with a Strictly performance to one of her favourite sings, admitting on the High Performance Podcast she would have ‘loved’ to watch him on the show.

Speaking about what she would have thought about her taking part on the show, he said: ‘She would have loved it. I don’t think she ever imagined that I’d be doing ballroom dancing on a Saturday night.

‘Hopefully there’s one song that we might be doing which is very, very special to me at some point, if I’m in long enough, which is going to be a bit of a tribute to her.

‘She had the best sense of humour, so she’d have found it hilarious watching me strut around like a t*t.’

Pete’s career was kickstarted in 2015 when he made a guest appearance on TOWIE alongside James Locke.

At the time, Pete was working 16-hour days as director of a company that supplied consultant doctors to the NHS, but he immediately caught the eye of TOWIE viewers with his distinct long hair and tattoos, and soon joined the cast in a full-time role.

While he left viewers in hysterics due to his dry sense of humour, it was his love life that dominated the show, including a fiery romance with Megan McKenna.

The pair’s relationship hit the rocks when it was revealed he’d been texting other women behind her back, and he admitted in his book Never Enough that he was villified online during the fallout.

Opening about the end of their relationship on Celebs Go Dating, Pete said he’s found relationships ‘harder’ due to the lack of a father figure in his life.

He added in 2019: ‘I have done a lot of work, I’m in a better position than I ever have been.’

During his time on TOWIE, it was also revealed that he and his friend Chloe Sims had been ‘sleeping together’ for around two years, and in a dramatic episode of the show he told her: ‘I can’t be in a relationship, I can’t give you what you want and I can’t give you what you deserve and I know that.’

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In 2022, Pete was then left devastated by the death of his beloved grandmother Doreen, who he described as his ‘best friend’

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To help him cope, Pete said earlier this year he has ‘a very good circle of strong women’ around him who help him process his feelings (pictured with his grandmother)

He eventually decided to leave the show in early 2023, saying on the Not My Bagg podcast: ‘I was starting to become the Ian Beale of TOWIE, just this sort of drunk in the corner, so it was definitely time for me to f*****g do one.’

Last year, Pete was also repeatedly linked to former Love Island star Maura Higgins, despite the pair’s insistence they were just close friends.

Speaking on a podcast interview, Pete expressed his fondness for Maura, explaining the pair had been supporting each other from afar from six years.

He said: ‘Maura and I have known each other for a long time now… about six years.

‘We have the same sense of humour, she’s super intelligent and I think that is sometimes something that people don’t realise about Maura.

‘She’s incredibly witty. We have always been there for each other for the past six years at a distance.

‘It’s different now. We spend more time together now than we did before. My relationship with her is that I think she’s a great person and I would hope that she thinks I’m alright.’

The duo were pictured kissing at red carpet events and even enjoyed a cozy getaway together in Ireland over New Year’s Eve, but went their separate ways shortly after.

Daily Mail revealed the pair had decided to split after a series of rows, with Maura finding messages on Pete’s phone to other women that she didn’t like.

Maura then went on to take a public swipe at Pete and accuse him of ‘cheating,’ but a source close to him told Daily Mail that he was never unfaithful during their relationship.

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During his TOWIE stint, Pete also became a fixture on a string of other reality shows, including Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls and Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins (pictured)

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The reality star also made a guest appearance on Celebrity Masterchef back in 2020

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As well as appearing on Strictly, Pete is also presenting his own documentary series, Pete Wicks: For Dog’s Sake for U&W

During his TOWIE stint, Pete also became a fixture on a string of other reality shows, including Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls, Celebrity Masterchef, Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins and Celebs Go Dating.

He was originally forced to withdraw from SAS during his first stint in 2022 after suffering a nasty injury while jumping from a helicopter, but returned to the show in 2024.

Pete has also offered his likeness to some of his pals’ shows too, making a guest appearance on friend Olivia Attwood’s reality show Bad Boyfriends last month.

Despite a string of reality shows under his belt, Pete hinted that after Strictly it may be time to step back from the format.

He told The Sun: ‘I won’t be going back on Celebs Go Dating any time soon put it that way. I am banned from dating shows. At my ripe old age I am just going to settle for dying alone.’

As well as appearing on Strictly, Pete has also presented his own documentary series, Pete Wicks: For Dog’s Sake for U&W, with its second series recently wrapping, with a Christmas Special and a third run of episodes in the works.

The series follows the star, who himself has two dogs Eric and Peggy, as he works with Dogs Trust to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome vulnerable dogs.

It was during one of three appearances on Celebs Go Dating in 2019 that Pete first met the man that would help him to form one of TV’s most beloved new double acts: Sam Thompson.

The duo formed a firm friendship on the E4 show in their quest to find love, and went onto appear on a string of shows including Reality News and a Celebrity edition of The Circle.

It was an unlikely pairing by some, with Pete’s moody persona contrasting with Sam’s sunny disposition, but the TOWIE star recently admitted that his pal has made him ‘a better person.’

‘One of the loveliest things about Sam is he’s very open about his feelings. Sam has been instrumental in making me more open about my feelings,’ he shared at an event to promote his new book.

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It was during one of three appearances on Celebs Go Dating that Pete first met the man that would help him to form one of TV’s most beloved new double acts: Sam Thompson (pictured)

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In 2022, the pair found a huge new audience when they launched their podcast Staying Relevant, and they’ve since taken the show on tour, and hosted a sold-out night at the O2

Initially the duo capitalised on their newfound popularity by posting a series of hilarious social media videos which saw Sam try to teach a reluctant Pete dance moves, or prank him with all manner of hijinks.

In 2022, the pair found a huge new audience when they launched their podcast Staying Relevant, poking fun at the pair’s attempts to maintain their fame, with the pair’s bickering and stories leaving listeners in hysterics.

The pair have since expanded the format to start their own production company, and even took to the show on tour for a string of sell-out gigs, and it topped the Spotify UK charts for the first time in December.

Pete previously reflected on his friendship with Sam in an interview with Daily Mail in July, saying that their opposing strengths and weaknesses have ‘married up nicely,’ and they’ve grown to have ‘complete trust in each other.’

Reflecting on his friendship with Sam, he said: ‘All of my strengths are Sam’s weaknesses and vice versa, all of his strengths are the things I’m not so good at, and that kind of marries up really nicely.

‘It’s weird, it’s kind of cliche, it sounds like I’m talking about my wife, he’s kind of like the missing puzzle piece – he’ll read this and he’ll f*****g love it as well – but it’s a very weird relationship.

‘We’ve never had a row in the years of being mates, and we talk every day and spend a lot of our time together, but it just kind of works, but I think a lot of that comes from having complete trust in the other one.’

Viewers also got a glimpse at Pete’s friendship with Sam when he flew to Australia to support him during his winning stint on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! in December.

Earlier this year, Pete then launched his first solo podcast, Man Made, interviewing stars including Olly Alexander, Tom Grennan and Jake Humphrey about modern masculinity and mental health in men.

For years, Pete has also been close pals with TOWIE co-star and Love Island favourite Olivia Attwood, with the pair landing their own KISS radio show, The Sunday Roast back in March.

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Last year, Pete joined the lineup for Strictly Come Dancing, it what was deemed by some to be an unlikely signing, and was paired with dancer Jowita Przystal

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Pete was paired to professional dancer Jowita Przystal, and despite admitting on the show he had no dance experience, the pair won over viewers, making it all the way to the semi-finals

However, the pair raised eyebrows in August when Pete was pictured cosying up to Olivia, who is married to footballer Bradley Dack, while on holiday in Ibiza.

The display left Olivia’s husband reportedly ‘furious’ over her drunken partying antics, but the star later insisted that they were back in good place, and insisted the fallout over the pictures wasn’t as ‘deep’ as anyone made out.

Last year, Pete then joined the lineup for Strictly Come Dancing, it what was deemed by some to be an unlikely signing.

Confessing he wasn’t a fan of the show, Pete admitted he was begged to sign up for the BBC One show by his manager and close pal Sam.

Pete told Sam on their Staying Relevant podcast about his own stint on the show: ‘It’s the last thing I think anyone would ever think I would do. I’ve never thought about doing it. I’ve never really watched Strictly.’

He continued: ‘You do like a taster day where I had to see how I got on for an hour with one of the pros.

‘And I am going to be honest with you, I went because I was semi-forced by my management and Sam and anyone else obsessed with Strictly. And I did the taster and I f****** loved it. I genuinely loved it.’

Pete was paired to professional dancer Jowita Przystal, and despite admitting on the show he had no dance experience, the pair won over viewers, making it all the way to the semi-finals.

Reflecting on his time on Strictly, Pete credited his progression to his dance partner Jowita, telling Daily Mail: ‘I thought as soon you could vote people out, what is it week two? I thought I’d be gone, I genuinely did and that would be it, and every week after that I thought I’d be gone.

‘I certainly never expected to get to the semi-finals and be that far along and have that experience for such a long time, but I was very fortunate, it was very overwhelming.

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Since then Pete has been romantically linked to Jowita on several occasions, and in September a source told Daily Mail that the pair were dating, after they shared a kiss on stage at the O2

‘A lot of that, if I’m totally honest, is down to Jowita, she was the best partner I could have had, I was with her on Saturday night, she’s become one of the most important in my life. She’s one of my best mates, and I adore her.

‘She had to put up with me, she dragged me through it, because it certainly wasn’t the dancing!’

‘I didn’t take myself too seriously but I took the show really seriously, and I took the process really seriously, I took the learning really seriously.

‘I enjoy learning things, and that was my favourite part of the whole thing, obviously I didn’t take myself too seriously because I knew I wasn’t the best dancer, and that’s why I was dressed as George of the jungle and wearing pink PVC trousers.

‘I don’t think anyone expected me to be doing that – it was like a fever dream!’

Since then Pete has been romantically linked to Jowita on several occasions, and in September a source told Daily Mail that the pair were dating, after they shared a kiss on stage while performing what would have been their Showdance, during the Staying Relevant live show at London’s O2 Arena.

‘They kept things professional on Strictly, there was no crossover with Maura. But once Pete was single they grew close again and recently the relationship has blossomed into something more.’

Referring to their onstage appearance at the O2, the source added: ‘You could tell something is going on between them during their routine – it was extremely raunchy and dance partners don’t usually kiss quite like that.’

Last month, Jowita shared a sweet tribute to ‘beautiful, passionate and hardworking’ Pete after the second series of his show For Dog’s Sake hit screens.