Pete Wicks
Pete Wicks is currently dating his TOWIE co-star Megan McKenna Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

The Only Way Is Essex star Pete Wicks gave his Instagram followers quite the eyeful on 26 July.

In a throwback picture from his recent holiday to Las Vegas, Wicks, 28, is seen lounging on the floor beside a pool in his underwear with the shadow of a tall nearby cactus strategically positioned over his crotch. Wicks captioned the image: "Chilling in the sun last week," alongside a smiley face emoji.

Many saw the humour in the cheeky image, with one of the reality star's followers joking: "Why Pete are you pleased to see us or is it just your shadow that's pleased to see us all?"

Referring to his girlfriend Megan McKenna, a second fan quipped: "Now we know why Megan can't get enough."

A third chimed in: "Clearly feeling the morning glory vibe or suffering with prickly heat," while another commented: "Wishing for bigger things!"

Puns were certainly aplenty in the comments section with another adding: "Nice coctus."

Another person undoubtedly amused by the image is Wicks' girlfriend McKenna, who confirmed her reconciliation with Wicks during their romantic Vegas trip in June. The smitten couple shared photos of each other on social media and McKenna, 24, even sparked engagement rumours after flashing a ring on her wedding finger in a Snapchat video.

Chilling in the sun last week...😁

A post shared by Pete Wicks (@p_wicks01) on

However, their romance is allegedly under threat from Love Island star Mike Thalassitis, aka Muggy Mike, who reportedly wants to try his luck with McKenna. A source told The Sun: "Everyone knows that liking someone's Instagram posts is how people flirt nowadays, and Mike went through loads of Megan's pictures and liked them."

The insider continued: "However people noticed and accused him of making a move on Megan while she's with Pete and trying to wangle a place on TOWIE. This seems to have embarrassed Mike and he immediately unliked the snaps and unfollowed her."

Wicks, a cast member of ITV's TOWIE since 2015, is widely rumoured to be entering the Celebrity Big Brother house in August, following in the footsteps of his girlfriend who competed in the Channel 5 series in 2016.