Pete Wicks leaves Heathrow for Australia to support best friend Sam Thompson on I’m A Celebrity… while his girlfriend Zara McDermott remains in Britain

Pete Wicks arrived at Heathrow Airport Terminal 3 on Tuesday as he prepared to board his flight to Australia to greet Sam Thompson as he leaves the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! jungle.

The TOWIE star, 35, will be the one to greet Sam, 31, at the end of the bridge as he leaves camp instead of the Made In Chelsea star’s girlfriend Zara McDermott.

While some celebrities have their mum, dad and partners waiting for them at the end of the bridge, Sam, 31, has opted to fly just his best friend to Australia.

Sam turned down the chance for his girlfriend Zara, 26, to greet him once he escaped the jungle, despite being voted off Strictly Come Dancing in time to make the flight.

Zara told Fleur East on the Hits Radio Breakfast Show: ‘When I left Strictly I thought, ‘Should I pack my suitcase?’ and he said: ‘Oh no, it has already been arranged for Piet to come.’

She continued, “When I suggested that maybe Pete and I could both go, he said, ‘No, just Pete!’ Maybe I can get Pete to take a cardboard cutout of me… But you know what’s fine, absolutely fine.

‘I have all the time in the world to live with him and see him. If he wants Pete at the end of that bridge, I respect and appreciate that. I can’t wait to see that hug either!’

Zara was the first former Love Island star to compete on Strictly Come Dancing, and she was eliminated in week six.

Her early elimination meant she was effectively at a loose end. At the same time, Sam, who had gambled on her still being in the competition, headed to Australia for his own reality TV adventure.

Speaking to breakfast hosts Fleur East and James Barr, he said: ‘When they asked [me to go into the jungle] I did think, if Zara was still on Strictly, I’d be a bad boyfriend if I went – but then I decided I had to!’

This decision made him doubt whether he would even have a girlfriend at the end of the three-week competition.

He said: ‘It turns out she taps out of Strictly as well as I tap in.

‘But because I thought she’d still do it on Strictly, Pete [Wicks] come with me!’ he admitted.

“I don’t know if I’ll end up having a girlfriend…”

With a duffel bag in hand, Pete was pictured strolling through Heathrow Airport, wearing an oversized gray hoodie, black tracksuit bottoms and checked vans.

But as the first exit from the jungle draws closer, the cast’s loved ones have made the long journey Down Under to support them.

The first arrival at Brisbane Airport on Tuesday morning was Nick Pickard’s girlfriend, Sarah Corrin.

Sarah, who has been in a relationship with Nick for several years, was in good spirits despite her long flight and beamed for the cameras as she pushed her luggage through the arrivals hall.

She told MailOnline she had begged family and friends to vote for the Hollyoaks actor for his first Bushtucker trial.

‘I have yet to see him do a Bushtucker Trial and all my friends and family say, ‘What are we going to do?’ And I keep saying, ‘Vote! Vote’ and people say you’re not supposed to vote for him, but I think you are! I think he would like it,” she said.

“I’ve heard a lot of people say we haven’t seen enough of him on screen,” she added.

The 48-year-old is the longest-running soap actor on Hollyoaks – he played Tony Hutchinson for 28 years – but he is one of the few celebrities on this year’s show who has yet to be voted into a Bushtucker Trial.

Sarah said: ‘It’s nice that people see the Nick side of him and not just Tony. But you haven’t seen it all yet. I’ve wanted him to do it for years.

‘He’s very competitive and a good team player, so that’s why I’ve always said that of all the things he could do, I’m A Celebrity would be a good choice for him.’

The couple live together in Liverpool, but their relationship has remained out of the public eye.

‘I’m really surprised I haven’t seen him get hungry. He is the most positive, happy person you will ever meet, but don’t mess with him and his food.

“When people go to the Trials he says, ‘Don’t worry if you don’t get all the stars,’ but I know inside he says, ‘You have to get all the stars.’

Meanwhile, Grace Dent left the jungle after leaving the ITV show this weekend.

During Monday’s episode of I’m A Celeb, Grace left her campmates in tears with a heartbreaking goodbye note.

Fans were concerned for her after she started looking ‘frighteningly ill’ during her time in the jungle – and earlier on Monday it was announced that she had left the show for good.

She left a farewell message for her emotional campmates in the form of a laminated letter, which was read out by a tearful Nick.