Strictly’s Amber Davies responds to critics: 'Being confident does not mean you're stuck up'

Amber Davies has been met with a wave of negative comments and backlash from viewers since she first appeared on Strictly Come Dancing - and she's had enough.

The stage actress was a last minute addition to the line-up, replacing Dani Dyer just 24 hours before the first live show, after Dyer fractured her ankle, thus forcing her out of the competition.

For those who have followed Davies since her Love Island win, she has gone on to forge an impressive career, starring in London's West End in the likes of 9 to 5: The Musical, Back to the Future and more recently, The Great Gatsby.

Yet such an impressive CV has brought a torrent of abuse week in and week out, which Davies says has "amped up [in] the last couple of weeks."

She told press including RadioTimes.com: "From day one, all I've ever felt is support and love, because at the end of the day, it's just an entertainment show. Yes, there's opinions online [and] I can appreciate where they come from. I have experience compared to these two [George Clarke and Karen Carney], and I'm not shying away from it.

"However, I would say that the love actually does over shine the hate. And I'm so glad that we had an opportunity on the weekend to just say, 'No, be kind'. It's not life or death."

During Saturday night's show, Nikita Kuzmin used his time in the Clauditorium to hit back at those sending nasty messages to Davies, telling his partner: "You have had so much hate every single day from the moment you joined, you've had so much hate this week and yet, you came every single day into the training room with a big smile ignoring everybody.

"And just giving me love, giving me a ginger shot as well. But you gave so much love, you always were kind, so caring, you care more about me when I'm supposed to care about you. You care about me every single day, you are such a lovely kind person.

"And I think sometimes, and I speak to the audience at home, just please be kind because it costs nothing and you [Amber] don't deserve none of it. You only deserve love because without you I wouldn't be here, and the show wouldn't be as good as it is."

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When asked further after the criticisms she's received and if a factor of it is her being a successful young woman, Davies told press including RadioTimes.com: "I have a big platform, I have a lot of young women following me, and I think I didn't know what my purpose was on Strictly, until I realised that I was getting a lot of negative comments for being good.

"And I can't believe I have to say this in 2025 but being ambitious as a woman, being confident, having dreams, working hard, does not mean you're stuck up. It doesn't mean that you're arrogant, and I want to change that. It shouldn't even be the narrative. I've had lots of people say, 'Oh, I just can't warm to her.' And I think it's because they don't want to warm to me."

She continued: "At the end of the day, I come from a small town in North Wales, and I have worked so hard because I love what I do. So I just want to reiterate, we live once, whatever you're ambitious about, whatever you have, whatever you care for in life, go for it with two hands, and don't undermine yourself to make other people feel comfortable, because that's not what we're here for. We should live for us."

Strictly Come Dancing concludes on Saturday 20th December at 7pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

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