TOWIE "bully' Pete Wicks has today hit back at a petition to get him sacked and said Amber Turner is "manipulative and unpopular".
Speaking exclusively to The Sun Online the reality star, 30, said "I am many things but a bully isn't one of them."
He went on: "I have never been a bully and never will be. I have made many mistakes in my life but I have always apologised and I will always hold my hands up if I am wrong but I don't have any regrets about what I have said about Amber.
"I stand by everything I have said. It's my opinion it isn't bullying. That's what we are on the show to do."
Pete, who is close friends with Chloe Sims, has repeatedly slammed Amber on the show – who is now dating Chloe's ex Dan Edgar again.
It all kicked off on Towie's Sunday night's episode when viewers thought Pete was unnecessarily harsh to Amber and branded him a bully after he called her "desperate".
Fans saw Pete fuming to Chloe and Vas Morgan that Dan had criticised his behaviour towards Amber.
He said: "The hardest thing for me is that Dan full well knows I've done nothing wrong".
Viewers then took to Twitter to brand him a "bully" and petition for him to be sacked.
But when we questioned Pete about Amber he said: "A lot happens off screen which the viewers don't see and it's easy to make an opinion without knowing the full history.
"I'm not going to say Amber likes to play the victim but when a large number of the group don't particularly warm to someone it is for valid reasons and there are tell tales signs about that person.
"I don't like the way she speaks to people and has treated people.
"It doesn't have anything to do with Dan. She's done a lot over the years which has alienated herself from a lot of the cast. She can be manipulative.
"It goes back a long way. The Chloe and Dan thing is the icing on the cake. "
Pete also responded to comments from some fans calling for him to quit: "I've heard there's a petition to get me sacked for being a bully but I'm sorry to say I'm not going anywhere.
"I don't give a f**k if people who don't know me hate me. So long as my friends and family like me.
"But it isn't nice for my mum to see me being called a bully or getting hate.
"It upsets me that mum has to read things about me. It is upsetting for her and that's what upsets me."
Another Towie star who has been in the firing line over her repeated bust ups with other Towie members is Olivia Attwood.
"She is a social hand grenade but she is TV gold. The show needs people who will say how they feel and not just sit on the fence.
"Liv is going to get a lot of abuse for being a nutter but she's not.
"I'm quit similar and I think we are the two most hated people in Essex at the moment."
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