Amber Davies competed in Series 23 of Strictly Come Dancing in 2025, joining as a late replacement for injured contestant Dani Dyer just 48 hours before the first live show aired, and ultimately reaching the final to finish as runner-up alongside professional partner Nikita Kuzmin. Born Amber Elizabeth Davies on 4 October 1996 in Denbigh, North Wales, she entered Strictly as a Welsh actress and Love Island Series 3 winner (2017) who had built an impressive West End career across shows including 9 to 5: The Musical, Back to the Future: The Musical, Pretty Woman, and The Great Gatsby. Her background in musical theatre — and a scholarship at the prestigious Urdang Academy in London — gave her exceptional stage presence, musicality, and rhythm that immediately impressed both the judges and the viewing public, though she was quick to clarify that ballroom and Latin dance were entirely new disciplines requiring her to start from scratch technically.
In this comprehensive guide, you will find everything about Amber Davies on Strictly Come Dancing 2025 — how she joined the show, her complete dance-by-dance journey with Nikita Kuzmin, the highs and controversies of the series, her final performances, her broader career story from Love Island to West End leading lady, and what comes next with her upcoming Legally Blonde tour. Whether you want a detailed account of her dances and scores, her personal life, or her professional history, this is the definitive resource.
How Amber Davies Joined Strictly 2025
The Dani Dyer Ankle Fracture
The circumstances of Amber Davies’s entry into Strictly Come Dancing 2025 were genuinely dramatic, even by the show’s occasionally turbulent standards. Dani Dyer — the former Love Island Series 4 winner (2018) and daughter of actor Danny Dyer — had been announced as part of the Strictly 2025 celebrity line-up and had been partnered with Ukrainian professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin. Dani was preparing to open the live shows with a Quickstep — notoriously one of the technically most demanding dances to perform first, requiring high energy and precise footwork — when she suffered a fall during rehearsals just days before the broadcast. An MRI scan confirmed a fractured ankle. Dani announced her withdrawal publicly, saying “To say I’m heartbroken is the biggest understatement,” and expressing genuine devastation at being unable to compete. BBC bosses confirmed that the door would be left open for her to potentially join a future series.
Within twenty-four to forty-eight hours of Dani’s withdrawal being confirmed, the BBC announced that Amber Davies would be stepping into her place — taking on Nikita Kuzmin as her partner and beginning rehearsals immediately with the first live show days away. The speed of the decision and Amber’s entry into the show created a genuine broadcasting moment: here was a performer with no warning, joining one of the UK’s most demanding television formats with barely any preparation time at all. For Amber, who has since described it as the “craziest 24 hours” of her life, the assignment was simultaneously a dream and a logistical challenge of the highest order. She had grown up watching Strictly with her family — her mother and grandmother are particularly devoted fans of the show — and she spoke about the moment with undisguised excitement: “I’ve watched Strictly with my family since I was younger and to now be part of the show is a dream come true. I’m going to give it my all.”
The Public’s Reaction
Amber’s announcement as Dani’s replacement generated significant discussion among the Strictly fan community. The dominant reaction was welcoming — Amber was well known to Love Island viewers and had built genuine respect in the theatrical world, giving her a broad appeal that crosscut the show’s varied viewership. However, some online discussion raised questions about her background in musical theatre and whether the performing arts training she had received through the Urdang Academy gave her a meaningful advantage over less experienced contestants. This is a recurring debate in Strictly’s history — the programme has always attracted celebrity performers with varying degrees of prior dance experience, and the question of where theatrical experience ends and competitive advantage begins is complex and not easily resolved.
Amber herself addressed the question directly and with notable grace on BBC Two’s It Takes Two in the first week of competition. She told presenter Fleur East: “Ballroom and Latin are worlds apart from what I’ve experienced on a West End stage. Completely different techniques.” She elaborated further: “I am a beginner when it comes to ballroom and Latin dancing. So I feel like I will be starting from scratch. I will give it my all.” Her acknowledgement of the distinction between theatrical performance — which relies on musicality, stage presence, and storytelling — and the specific technical requirements of competitive ballroom dancing was well received by commentators, who noted that musicality without the correct heel-and-toe work, frame, and footwork specific to each dance style genuinely does require a new kind of learning even for experienced performers.
Amber’s Partner: Nikita Kuzmin
Who Is Nikita Kuzmin?
Nikita Kuzmin is a Ukrainian-born professional dancer who has been part of the Strictly Come Dancing professional lineup since 2021 — joining the show as one of the younger members of the professional team. Born on 4 January 1997 in Sumy, Ukraine, Nikita trained in ballroom and Latin dance from an early age, competing internationally before his career took him to television and stage performance. He is known for his energetic, expressive style and his ability to connect with celebrity partners across a wide range of dance genres. His first celebrity partner on Strictly was TOWIE star Maisie Smith in the 2021 Christmas special, and he went on to partner comedic actor Ellie Taylor in the main 2022 series, reaching the semi-finals with her. He was partnered with Zara McDermott in 2023 and with EastEnders actress Ellie Leach — with whom he reached the final — in 2023.
For the 2025 series, Nikita had originally been partnered with Dani Dyer before Dani’s injury forced her withdrawal and Amber’s entry. He and Amber began working together with just a matter of days before their first live performance, which made their immediate on-floor chemistry all the more remarkable. From their very first week’s Waltz to Adele’s “When We Were Young,” it was clear that Amber’s theatrical training gave her an exceptional ability to tell a story through movement, and Nikita’s choreographic instincts were well matched to a partner with such evident musicality. The pairing quickly became one of the most talked-about of the series.
The Amber and Nikita Dynamic
Throughout the series, Amber and Nikita developed a strong partnership both professionally and personally — in the warm, collegial sense typical of Strictly pairings rather than in any romantic sense. Nikita’s coaching style appears to suit performers with existing stage experience: he tends to work with the emotional storytelling aspect of dance rather than purely drilling technique, which played well to Amber’s strengths. Their interactions in packages, training footage, and on the It Takes Two sofa showed a relaxed, mutually supportive rapport. Nikita has shown considerable loyalty to his celebrity partners in past series, advocating for them in media appearances and defending their achievements, and this pattern continued with Amber.
Nikita’s own connection to Dani Dyer — the original partner he had lost to injury — gave their week-one dynamic an additional note of poignancy. He spoke warmly about Dani in media interviews following the injury, expressing hope that she could return to the show in a future series, while simultaneously throwing himself into the challenge of preparing Amber for immediate competition. This dual narrative — loyalty to an absent partner alongside genuine investment in a new one — added depth to the public’s understanding of the professional dancers’ commitment to the show.
Amber’s Full Dance Journey on Strictly 2025
Week One: The Waltz
Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin made their Strictly debut with a Waltz to “When We Were Young” by Adele — a musically and emotionally resonant choice that suited Amber’s theatrical instincts perfectly. For someone who had entered the competition just forty-eight hours before the broadcast, the performance was remarkable in its composure and feeling. The judges responded warmly, acknowledging the brevity of preparation while noting the natural grace Amber brought to the floor. Craig Revel Horwood — whose praise is famously rare and precise — issued a comment in week two that became one of the most quoted moments of the early series: “Amber is incredible. Her feet need sorting out and it was a little bit too textured but I think if she gets through that and corrects it, I’m seeing 10s for this lady. I love her! I really do feel that.”
The response from Claudia Winkleman — the show’s co-host — to Craig’s enthusiasm was equally memorable. When Craig delivered his assessment with characteristic intensity, Claudia told him to “take his temperature” — an exchange that quickly became a social media moment. For a contestant who had not been part of the original lineup and who had had almost no preparation time, this level of early judge enthusiasm was exceptional and set the tone for what was to become one of the more compelling celebrity journeys of the series.
Week Two: The Samba to Bam Bam
Amber’s second live performance — a Samba to “Bam Bam” by Camila Cabello and Ed Sheeran — provided the show with one of its earliest leaderboard moments of the series. The Samba is a technically demanding dance requiring specific hip action, bounce, and rhythm that is entirely distinct from ballroom technique. For the judges, it was another opportunity to assess how quickly Amber was absorbing entirely new technical requirements. Their combined week one and week two scores placed Amber and Nikita at the top of the leaderboard with 56 points after two shows — a remarkable opening statement from a pair who had effectively had one week’s preparation where others had had several weeks before the show even began.
The leaderboard position attracted further commentary about Amber’s experience advantage, but the couple’s scores were awarded on the merits of the dances as performed, and the judges’ consistency in acknowledging areas for technical improvement alongside overall quality gave their scores credibility. The Samba result demonstrated that Amber could absorb new technical vocabulary quickly and that Nikita’s choreography was successfully translating his partner’s strengths into competitive performances within the constraints of the specific dance forms.
The Complete Dance Card
Throughout Strictly 2025, Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin performed an impressive range of dances. Their confirmed dance portfolio across the series included:
Waltz to “When We Were Young” by Adele (Week 1)
Samba to “Bam Bam” by Camila Cabello and Ed Sheeran (Week 2)
American Smooth to “16 Going on 17” from The Sound of Music (an emotionally resonant choice with theatrical connections)
Argentine Tango to “Angel of My Dreams” by JADE
Cha Cha to “Break Free” by Ariana Grande
Viennese Waltz to “I See Red” by Everybody Loves an Outlaw
Salsa to “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” by Sylvester
Paso Doble to “Dream On” by Aerosmith (performed in the Final)
Jive to “Proud Mary” — their favourite dance from the series, also performed in the Final (scored 40)
Show Dance to “Rain on Me” by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande (Final)
Their Final paso doble to Aerosmith’s “Dream On” was a particularly well-received reworking of a dance they had already performed earlier in the series, demonstrating how both Amber and Nikita had grown during the competition. The instruction from a judge during the masterclass session between the semi-final and the final clearly elevated the performance beyond its original iteration. Their show dance to “Rain on Me” was another highlight of the evening — a number that suited Amber’s theatrical instincts for high-energy, emotionally charged performance.
The Jive: A 40-Point Perfect Score
Amber’s Jive — which she selected as her favourite dance from the series to perform again in the Final — was the second dance of the evening to receive the maximum score of 40 points from the judging panel, with each of the four judges awarding a 10. The Jive is one of the most physically demanding dances in the Strictly repertoire, requiring sustained high energy, precise footwork, and an ability to combine technical execution with infectious entertainment value. For a contestant who had entered the competition on almost no preparation time, to achieve a perfect 40 on a Jive in the Final is a remarkable achievement by any measure.
The 40 for the Jive confirmed what the judges had sensed from the beginning: Amber Davies had the combination of natural musicality, technical receptiveness, and performance instinct that makes for a genuinely exceptional Strictly competitor. Her ability to translate musical feeling into physical expression — the quality that Craig Revel Horwood had identified very early in the series — was at its most visible in the Jive’s demand for pure, vibrant energy.
The Final: Runner-Up to George Clarke
The Strictly 2025 Final brought together three couples: Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin, architect and television presenter George Clarke with professional partner Alexis Warr, and former England women’s football international Karen Carney with professional Carlos Gu. George Clarke ultimately won the Glitterball Trophy — a result that reflected not only his own remarkable journey through the competition but the public’s warm affection for a personality who had shown unexpected grace and joy on the dance floor throughout the series. Amber finished as runner-up, a position that represents a genuinely outstanding achievement by any standard — and particularly so given her extraordinary entry circumstances.
George Clarke and Alexis Warr won the 2025 Strictly Come Dancing title. The architect and Channel 4 presenter’s Viennese Waltz to “Somebody to Love” by Queen in the Final was a defining performance of the series, and the public vote — which decides the winner regardless of judges’ scores — reflected a groundswell of affection for his story. Amber and Nikita’s scores across the Final dances were competitive, and their jive to “Proud Mary” scoring a 40 confirmed that in terms of technical and artistic achievement they had delivered a Final-night performance fully worthy of the occasion.
Amber Davies Before Strictly: The Complete Story
Born in Denbigh, North Wales
Amber Elizabeth Davies was born on 4 October 1996 in Denbigh, a market town in Denbighshire, North Wales — a community steeped in the Welsh cultural traditions of choral singing, eisteddfod competition, and the particular pride in performing arts that characterises Welsh cultural life. Her father is a plumber and her mother is a mental health nurse — a working-class background that Amber has spoken about with openness and pride throughout her career. From the age of three, Amber and her older sister Jane attended ballet lessons, establishing a physical relationship with performance that predated even her eventual choice to pursue musical theatre training professionally. She had singing and music lessons throughout her childhood and competed in the Welsh singing festival, the Eisteddfod, from early in her school life.
At the age of ten, Amber competed in the Urdd Eisteddfod — the Welsh-medium equivalent of the traditional Eisteddfod, one of the largest youth cultural festivals in Europe — in 2006, held in Ruthin, demonstrating the competitive performing confidence that would eventually take her to West End stages and national television. She attended Ysgol Glan Clwyd, a Welsh-medium secondary school in Rhyl, before her performing ambitions led her away from formal schooling and towards professional training. Her hometown music coach, Leah Owen, is identified as a significant early influence on her development as a singer and performer.
The Urdang Academy Scholarship
At the age of sixteen, Amber Davies won a scholarship to train at the Urdang Academy in London — one of the UK’s most respected performing arts colleges, specialising in musical theatre training, dance, and acting. A scholarship at a college of this calibre is not a participation award: it reflects an assessment by experienced theatrical professionals that the recipient has the talent and work ethic to succeed at the highest levels of the industry. For Amber, leaving North Wales at sixteen to train in London on a full scholarship represented both a recognition of her abilities and a formative personal transition — from the close-knit community of Denbigh to one of the world’s most competitive performance training environments.
Her three years at the Urdang Academy encompassed intensive training across all three disciplines of the musical theatre triple threat: singing, acting, and dance. The highlight of her time at the college was originating the role of Campbell in “Bring It On: The Musical” during her third-year showcase — originating a role in a professional production as a training showcase is a particularly significant marker of ability, since it requires both technical mastery and creative leadership. This role would eventually become her first professional credit when she was cast in the same production after graduation.
Pre-Love Island: The X Factor and Cirque Le Soir
Before her television breakthrough on Love Island, Amber had a professional existence that has only gradually become part of the public record as her career has grown. She worked at the London nightclub Cirque le Soir — an upscale performance venue known for its spectacular entertainers and theatrical atmosphere — and sang backing vocals on The X Factor, one of the UK’s most watched prime-time entertainment programmes. These pre-Love Island experiences reflect a young woman navigating the difficult gap between completing a performing arts training programme and establishing herself in a competitive industry, taking available professional opportunities to maintain her performing skills and professional presence while pursuing her ultimate West End ambitions.
The combination of nightclub entertainment work and major television backing vocal experience gave Amber a well-rounded professional preparation that most reality television contestants do not possess, and the contrast between this background and the typical Love Island contestant profile — usually focused on modelling, fitness, or social media influencing rather than theatrical training — is a key part of why her post-Love Island trajectory has been so distinctive.
Love Island 2017: The Breakthrough
Winning Series 3
Amber Davies appeared in the third series of Love Island in the summer of 2017 — the series that decisively established the show as a mainstream cultural phenomenon in the UK rather than a niche reality format. She was partnered with Kem Cetinay, a hairdresser from Essex with a natural on-camera warmth and charm that complemented Amber’s more outgoing performing personality, and the couple quickly became fan favourites. Their relationship developed across the villa’s weeks of competition, romantic drama, and the enforced intimacy of communal living under constant camera surveillance, and they ultimately won the series — becoming the first couple since Love Island’s 2015 reboot to win the public vote and claim the prize together as a couple.
The Love Island win brought Amber to national attention in a way that few reality shows can match in the summer of 2017: the programme attracted peak audiences of over three million viewers per episode, a figure that generated magazine covers, newspaper features, and the kind of public recognition that comes with genuine mass-market cultural impact. The win could easily have pigeon-holed Amber as a reality television personality navigating the well-worn post-villa path of personal appearances, influencer deals, and the associated social media career. The fact that she had an entirely different plan — immediately turning back to her theatrical training and pursuing professional acting roles — is what makes her post-Love Island story so remarkable.
The Kem Split and Moving On
Amber and Kem Cetinay’s relationship, which had been the centrepiece of Love Island 2017’s narrative, ended in December 2017 — approximately four months after the series concluded. Both cited busy work schedules and differing lifestyles as the reasons for the separation. The split was widely reported and generated significant tabloid interest, but Amber navigated the public dimension of the relationship’s end with considerable maturity for someone who was twenty-one at the time and had been thrust into an unusually public romantic narrative. She declined to make the relationship’s ending into extended content or media conversation, pivoting quickly back to the theatrical work that had always been her primary professional ambition.
Her ability to use the Love Island platform as a springboard rather than a destination represents one of the better examples of the post-reality television career transition available from that era of the show’s history. While other Love Island alumni of the same period pursued predominantly social media and influencer careers, Amber went straight to auditions for professional musical theatre productions and used the public recognition she had gained to ensure she got seen — not to be cast, but to be seen. What happened next depended entirely on whether she could sing, act, and perform to professional West End standards, and the answer the industry gave her was emphatically positive.
West End Career: From 9 to 5 to The Great Gatsby
9 to 5: The Musical — The West End Debut
Amber Davies made her West End debut in the UK premiere of 9 to 5: The Musical — a show based on the 1980 Dolly Parton film of the same name, featuring music and lyrics by Dolly Parton herself. The show is a feminist workplace comedy that demands strong singing voices, comedic timing, and genuine charisma from its principal cast. Amber was cast in a leading role — the part of Judy Bernly, the naive new employee who finds herself at the centre of an improbable workplace revolution — and opened at the Savoy Theatre in London’s West End in 2019. Her casting attracted attention precisely because of the Love Island connection: here was someone the public had most recently associated with ITV2 dating television now performing at one of London’s most prestigious theatrical addresses.
Amber spoke publicly about being aware of the scepticism and choosing to meet it head-on: “I only graduated in 2016, so I’m very fresh out of college. But I am trained and I have every right to be here. I’m waiting and ready to prove people wrong. I know they’re gonna come in with a bit of, ‘Let’s see how Amber from Love Island will sing,’ and I just can’t wait — I want everyone to be pleasantly surprised.” The reviews were positive, and the engagement she generated for the production — drawing Love Island fans who had never previously attended a West End musical — was a commercial benefit that producers appreciated. The show gave her a genuine theatrical credential and established the template for how she would approach every subsequent project: with a combination of professional rigour and strategic use of her public profile.
Back to the Future: The Musical and Ben Joyce
Among Amber’s most personally significant West End credits is her role as Lorraine Baines in Back to the Future: The Musical — a high-profile, technologically spectacular production that became one of the West End’s major commercial hits. Lorraine is the mother figure of the story, a role that required both comic instinct and genuine emotional warmth across the production’s most sentimental sequences. The role was also personally significant in an entirely different way: it was during Back to the Future that Amber met her current partner, West End actor Ben Joyce, who played Marty McFly — the show’s lead role — in the production. They began their relationship in 2022, and Amber has spoken about the particular quality of a relationship that started in the context of performing together, with the mutual professional respect that shared theatrical experience creates.
Ben Joyce’s performance as Marty McFly was well received across the Back to the Future run, and his relationship with Amber — both a personal and professional partnership — has been a stable presence in her life during the most visible period of her career. Both continued working in musical theatre after Back to the Future, with Amber taking on leading roles in Pretty Woman: The Musical (where she played Vivian Ward, the iconic role created by Julia Roberts in the 1990 film) and The Great Gatsby: The Musical, where she appeared alongside Corbin Bleu — known internationally for High School Musical. Each successive role demonstrated an increasing willingness by producers to cast Amber in major leading roles that had no connection whatsoever to her Love Island origins.
Pretty Woman and The Great Gatsby
Amber’s casting as Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman: The Musical represented one of her most high-profile stage roles to that point — a character so widely known and beloved from the film that any casting inevitably invites comparison with Julia Roberts’s performance. Amber brought her particular combination of natural warmth, comedic timing, and vocal ability to the role, and the production generated positive audience responses. The Great Gatsby followed, with Amber in a leading role in a show that had attracted considerable attention due to its high production values and its casting of Corbin Bleu — whose fame from the High School Musical franchise gave the production significant global recognition. Amber’s ability to hold her own alongside an internationally known American performer confirmed her standing as a West End leading actress in her own right.
The Dolly Parton Documentary
One of the most personally meaningful non-theatrical projects in Amber’s career was the documentary Amber and Dolly: 9 to 5, in which she travelled to Nashville to interview Dolly Parton herself — one of the most respected and beloved entertainers in American music history. The project reflected Amber’s deep personal connection to the show that had launched her West End career, and the opportunity to interview Dolly Parton directly was one that she has spoken about with undisguised awe and affection. The documentary demonstrated her capabilities as a presenter and interviewer, adding another professional dimension to a profile already spanning musical theatre, television performance, reality television, and social media.
Dancing on Ice 2024: The Precursor to Strictly
Competing on the Ice Rink
Amber Davies competed in the sixteenth series of Dancing on Ice in 2024, partnered with professional skater Simon Proulx-Sénécal. Her participation in Dancing on Ice provided significant relevant experience for her subsequent Strictly appearance: both shows require a celebrity competitor to learn an entirely unfamiliar physical discipline under intense public scrutiny within a compressed competitive timeline, performing with a professional partner who must adapt their teaching and choreography to the celebrity’s specific strengths and limitations. Dancing on Ice in particular requires genuine athletic courage — performing complex movements on ice blades presents obvious physical risk that weeds out performers who are not comfortable with controlled fear.
Amber came close to reaching the Dancing on Ice final but ultimately just missed out on a place in the closing stages of the competition — a result that positioned her firmly in the higher echelon of the series without quite achieving the ultimate result. The experience gave her a practical understanding of how to handle the pressure of weekly live performance in a competitive physical format, how to manage the relationship with a professional partner across an extended competition, and how to communicate with both the judges and the viewing public during the particular emotional rhythms of a British television talent competition. All of these lessons translated directly to her Strictly experience in 2025.
How Dancing on Ice Prepared Her for Strictly
Amber’s Dancing on Ice experience gave her something beyond just physical preparation: it gave her a framework for understanding how to use each week’s performance strategically, how to engage with the judging panel’s critiques constructively, and how to manage the media attention that accompanies being a contestant on a major Saturday night competition show. She understood what the weekly schedule of training, performance, and media engagement would feel like. She understood the experience of working intensively with a professional dance partner. And she understood the particular quality of courage required to perform physically demanding new skills live on national television with no safety net.
This combination of Dancing on Ice experience and her theatrical background created a unique preparation profile that was different from any other competitor on Strictly 2025. Where some celebrity contestants bring pure stage experience without competition experience, and others bring competition experience without formal performing training, Amber brought both — which explains, at least in part, why her technical development across the series was so rapid and why she was able to reach the Final from an entry position of almost zero preparation time.
Personal Life, Net Worth, and Future Plans
Amber’s Personal Life
Amber Davies has been in a relationship with West End actor Ben Joyce since approximately 2022, when the couple met while co-starring in Back to the Future: The Musical. Ben Joyce played Marty McFly while Amber played Lorraine — his mother in the story — which led to some gentle amusement in media coverage of their romance. The relationship has been consistently described as a supportive partnership between two working theatrical professionals who share the particular world of musical theatre and all its demands and rhythms. Amber’s Strictly partner Nikita Kuzmin surprised her on the show with a birthday tribute in October 2025 — described as a “super-personal birthday gift” — that demonstrated the warm, professional friendship she had built with him through the competition.
Amber is close to her family in North Wales, particularly her mother and grandmother — described as “huge fans of Strictly Come Dancing” — who were said to be thrilled by her participation in the show. She has spoken about her working-class background in Denbigh with evident pride and has been thoughtful in public discussion about the trajectory of her career and the surprise it may have represented to those who placed her simply in the category of “Love Island contestant” without knowing her theatrical training and professional ambitions.
Net Worth and Earnings
Amber Davies’s net worth is reported by the Daily Mail at approximately £3.2 million — a figure that reflects the combination of her Love Island income and associated brand deals, her extensive West End career, her television work (including Dancing on Ice’s reported £60,000 fee), her fashion brand collaborations (including a partnership with Motel Rocks reportedly worth approximately £500,000), and her podcast and media profile. Her Strictly appearance in 2025 will have added to this total — celebrity contestants are reported to earn a minimum of approximately £25,000 for participation, with additional fees for progressing through the rounds.
Her reported Motel Rocks deal alone at approximately £500,000 illustrates how effectively she has leveraged both her Love Island profile and her subsequent West End credibility to secure brand partnerships above and beyond what a purely theatrical career would generate. The combination of reality television recognition (which delivers direct-to-consumer brand partnership value) and serious professional performance credentials (which delivers endorsement legitimacy for fashion and lifestyle brands) is an unusually powerful commercial pairing.
The Legally Blonde Tour: What’s Next
Amber Davies was confirmed, before her Strictly 2025 appearance, as the lead in the major new UK touring production of Legally Blonde the Musical, playing Elle Woods — the iconic pink-clad Harvard law student who has become one of musical theatre’s most beloved heroines. The role of Elle Woods is one of the most demanding in the contemporary musical theatre repertoire: it requires comedic timing, genuine emotional depth (the character’s journey from sorority stereotype to accomplished lawyer is real and moving), exceptional physical energy, and the vocal range to deliver Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin’s demanding score. The tour is set to begin in 2026, following the conclusion of her Strictly commitments.
The Legally Blonde casting positions Amber at the highest level of UK musical theatre touring — leading a major commercial production in one of the most coveted roles in the genre. It is a role that will take her career to a new scale: a headline UK tour playing major theatre venues across the country over many months, with the combined fanbases from Love Island, Strictly, and her existing West End profile driving ticket sales and public interest. For an actress from Denbigh who won a scholarship to the Urdang Academy at sixteen and used a Love Island win as a platform rather than a destination, the Legally Blonde tour represents the most significant theatrical opportunity of her career to date.
The Call to Stage Podcast
In addition to her performing career, Amber runs her own podcast called “Call to Stage,” in which she interviews stars from the world of musical theatre and the broader entertainment industry. Her guests have included Alfie Boe, Rachel Tucker, John Owen-Jones, and Strictly Come Dancing performer Layton Williams — a roster that reflects both the serious theatrical world she inhabits and the broader entertainment connections her varied career has generated. The podcast adds a media and content-creation dimension to her profile and demonstrates the entrepreneurial approach she takes to building a sustainable entertainment career across multiple platforms.
Practical Information for Amber Davies and Strictly Fans
Watching Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing broadcasts on BBC One, typically airing on Saturday evenings for the main show and Sunday evenings for the results show. The 2025 series ran from September to December, with the Final broadcast in December 2025. All episodes of Strictly Come Dancing Series 23 are available to watch on BBC iPlayer — the BBC’s on-demand streaming platform — for a period following broadcast. BBC iPlayer is accessible on computers and laptops at bbc.co.uk/iplayer, through the BBC iPlayer app on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, through smart TV applications on most modern televisions, and through streaming devices including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Roku. The service is free to access for UK residents with a valid TV licence.
For audiences outside the UK, access to BBC iPlayer is restricted by geographic rights — most content on the platform is available only in the UK. International fans of Strictly can access series through BritBox — the BBC’s international subscription streaming service — which carries Strictly content and is available in the United States, Canada, Australia, and other territories at a monthly subscription fee.
The Strictly Live Tour 2026
The annual Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour typically visits major arenas across the UK in January and February following each series, featuring the Final-placing celebrity couples and professional dancers recreating choreography from the television series. The 2026 tour, following Series 23, is expected to feature Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin among the performing couples, given their runner-up finish in the Final. Tour dates and venues are announced through the official Strictly Come Dancing website and through the show’s social media channels. Tickets are available through the official Ticketmaster and AXS ticketing platforms and typically range from approximately £35 to £150 depending on venue, seat location, and ticket tier. Arena shows on the Strictly Live Tour typically sell out quickly — particularly in the first days after ticket release — so signing up for pre-sale notifications through the ticketing platforms or following Strictly’s official channels is the most effective way to secure tickets.
Seeing Amber Davies in Legally Blonde
The Legally Blonde the Musical UK tour starting in 2026 with Amber Davies as Elle Woods will visit major theatre venues across the country over several months. Tour dates, venues, and ticket booking information will be announced through the official production’s website and social media channels, as well as through Amber’s own platforms. Ticket prices for major UK theatre touring productions typically range from approximately £20 to £80 depending on venue, seating category, and performance date, with premium preview performances and gala evenings sometimes carrying higher prices. Booking well in advance — particularly for opening performances in major cities — is advisable for the best available seat selection.
Amber Davies on Social Media
Amber Davies maintains active profiles on Instagram and Twitter/X, where she shares updates about her professional work, personal life, and public appearances. During the Strictly 2025 series, her social media activity provided behind-the-scenes content from rehearsals and training sessions that supplemented the official BBC coverage and gave fans additional access to her Strictly journey. Her Call to Stage podcast is available on all major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music, and is updated regularly with new episodes featuring musical theatre guests.
Amber Davies and the Love Island to West End Pathway
Defying the Reality TV Stereotype
Amber Davies’s post-Love Island career trajectory is one of the most discussed examples of a reality television contestant using their platform as a launchpad rather than a career destination. The narrative arc of Love Island alumni broadly divides between those who maximise the show’s immediate commercial value through social media influencing, brand partnerships, and personal appearance circuits — a perfectly legitimate professional path that many of the show’s most commercially successful graduates follow — and those who use the visibility as a door to something they were already pursuing before the cameras found them. Amber belongs firmly in the second category, and the consistency and quality of her West End career over nearly a decade since Love Island is the clearest possible evidence of this.
What makes Amber’s case particularly instructive is the speed with which she pivoted back to theatre after the show — not as a strategy but as a reflection of genuine vocation. Musical theatre was what she had trained for, what she had won a scholarship to study, and what she had been working towards when Love Island interrupted her journey. The interruption turned out to be enormously beneficial in commercial terms — it gave her a profile that opened doors and filled seats — but the direction of travel was always the same. She has spoken publicly about knowing from childhood that she wanted to perform professionally, and the continuity between the child competing in the Eisteddfod in Denbigh and the West End lead playing Elle Woods in Legally Blonde is a straight line, even if Love Island sits in an unexpected place along it.
The Benefit of Dual Audiences
One of the specific commercial advantages that Amber Davies brings to theatrical productions is the dual audience she attracts: theatre-goers who follow West End casts and are drawn by her established performing credentials, and Love Island (and now Strictly) fans who may not have previously attended a West End musical but are drawn by their affection for Amber as a personality. This is not a new phenomenon in British musical theatre — a generation of celebrities from television, sport, and entertainment have used their profiles to drive ticket sales for touring productions and even West End runs — but Amber’s version of it is more sustainable than most because she genuinely has the talent to satisfy both audiences simultaneously.
A Love Island cast member who is brought in to sell tickets but delivers below par performances will lose both audiences simultaneously — the theatre crowd who were sceptical to begin with, and the television fans who feel their loyalty has been exploited by a production that did not actually invest in the performer’s abilities. Amber avoids this trap because the audition rooms, the rehearsal studios, and the stages themselves have confirmed her ability on their own terms, independently of any celebrity endorsement or social media metric.
The 2025 Strictly Series in Context
Series 23: An Unusual Year
Strictly Come Dancing’s twenty-third series in 2025 was notable beyond Amber’s extraordinary entry circumstances. The show broadcast on BBC One on Saturday evenings from late September to December, with the customary format of live performances judged by Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke, and Shirley Ballas, and hosted by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. The 2025 series followed 2024’s championship, which had been won by comedian Chris McCausland — who made history as the first blind person to win Strictly — with professional partner Dianne Buswell. Chris’s victory had been celebrated as one of the most emotionally resonant outcomes in the show’s history and had raised the bar for the kind of inspiring personal story the viewing public responds to most strongly.
The 2025 series featured a celebrity lineup drawn across entertainment, sport, journalism, and television presenting, reflecting the eclectic casting philosophy that has always distinguished Strictly from more narrowly targeted talent competitions. George Clarke’s eventual victory, as a well-respected Channel 4 presenter known primarily for his architecture and renovation television work, continued the show’s tradition of rewarding genuine audience warmth and unexpected journey rather than simply the highest individual scoring performances. Karen Carney’s participation as a former England international footballer added a sporting dimension to the Final. Amber’s runner-up position, achieved from her extraordinary late-entry circumstances, made her one of the most discussed contestants in the series’ later weeks.
Strictly’s Format and the Role of the Public Vote
One aspect of Amber’s Strictly experience worth contextualising is the relationship between judges’ scores and the public vote. Throughout the competition, the judges award scores that determine who faces the dance-off — the bottom two placing couples each Sunday are required to perform again, with the judges choosing which couple to eliminate through a deciding vote. However, in the Final, the judges’ scores serve as guidance only: the winning couple is determined entirely by public telephone and online voting. This means that a couple who tops the judges’ leaderboard throughout the Final is not guaranteed to win, and conversely, a couple who scores less highly in the judges’ assessment can win if the public votes for them in sufficient numbers.
Amber’s perfect 40 for her Jive in the Final demonstrated she had the judges’ highest assessment at key moments of the evening. George Clarke’s victory reflected the public’s warmth for his character and journey throughout the series — a warmth that had clearly translated into significant voting support. The two outcomes are not in conflict: both Amber’s judging success and George’s public success reflect different but genuine kinds of achievement on the Strictly floor.
Amber Davies: A Comprehensive Career Timeline
The full story of Amber Davies from her North Wales childhood to West End leading lady and Strictly runner-up can be laid out clearly in chronological order:
1996 — Born 4 October in Denbigh, North Wales, to a plumber father and mental health nurse mother.
From age 3 — Began ballet lessons alongside older sister Jane.
2006 — Competed in the Urdd Eisteddfod youth cultural festival, age ten, in Ruthin.
From age 11 — Trained in singing and music; competed in Welsh Eisteddfod.
2012 — Aged sixteen, won a scholarship to train at the Urdang Academy in London, studying musical theatre.
2013-2016 — Three-year Urdang Academy training; highlights include originating the role of Campbell in Bring It On: The Musical in showcase. Graduated 2016.
Pre-2017 — Worked at Cirque le Soir nightclub; sang backing vocals for The X Factor.
2017 — Won Love Island Series 3 with Kem Cetinay (ITV2). Split from Kem in December 2017.
2019 — West End debut as Judy Bernly in 9 to 5: The Musical at the Savoy Theatre.
Subsequent years — Appeared in Bring It On: The Musical professionally; starred in Back to the Future: The Musical (West End, Adelphi Theatre) as Lorraine; met partner Ben Joyce during this production.
2022 — Began relationship with West End actor Ben Joyce. Starred in Pretty Woman: The Musical as Vivian Ward.
2023 — Appeared in The Great Gatsby: The Musical alongside Corbin Bleu. Starred in CBBC series Almost Never.
2024 — Competed in Dancing on Ice Series 16 with partner Simon Proulx-Sénécal; came close to the final. Hosted documentary Amber and Dolly: 9 to 5, interviewing Dolly Parton in Nashville. Confirmed as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde the Musical UK tour (2026).
September 2025 — Joined Strictly Come Dancing 2025 as replacement for injured Dani Dyer, partnered with Nikita Kuzmin, debuting in Week 1.
December 2025 — Reached the Strictly Final; finished runner-up to George Clarke and Alexis Warr; scored a perfect 40 for Jive to “Proud Mary.”
2026 — Legally Blonde the Musical UK tour begins as Elle Woods.
FAQs
Who is Amber Davies on Strictly Come Dancing?
Amber Davies is a Welsh actress and television personality who competed in Series 23 of Strictly Come Dancing in 2025, finishing as runner-up with professional partner Nikita Kuzmin. Born in Denbigh, North Wales, on 4 October 1996, she is best known as the winner of Love Island Series 3 in 2017 and has since built a highly regarded career in West End musical theatre, appearing in 9 to 5: The Musical, Back to the Future: The Musical, Pretty Woman, and The Great Gatsby. She trained at the Urdang Academy on a scholarship from the age of sixteen.
Why did Amber Davies join Strictly 2025?
Amber Davies joined Strictly 2025 as a replacement for Dani Dyer, who was forced to withdraw from the competition after fracturing her ankle during rehearsals just days before the first live show. Amber was announced as Dani’s replacement within approximately 48 hours of Dani’s withdrawal and began rehearsing immediately with Nikita Kuzmin, Dani’s original professional partner. She described the experience as the “craziest 24 hours” of her life. Amber went on to make the Final despite having significantly less preparation time than the other contestants.
Who was Amber Davies’s Strictly partner?
Amber Davies was partnered with professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin on Strictly 2025. Nikita, born in Ukraine on 4 January 1997, has been a member of the Strictly professional lineup since 2021. He had originally been partnered with Dani Dyer for the 2025 series before Dani’s ankle injury led to her withdrawal and Amber’s entry into the competition. Nikita and Amber debuted together with a Waltz to Adele’s “When We Were Young” and went on to perform a full range of ballroom and Latin dances throughout the series.
Did Amber Davies win Strictly 2025?
No. Amber Davies was the runner-up on Strictly Come Dancing 2025. The winner was architect and television presenter George Clarke, who danced with professional partner Alexis Warr. The Final also featured footballer Karen Carney and professional Carlos Gu. Despite not winning the Glitterball Trophy, Amber’s performance in the Final was widely praised — she scored a perfect 40 points for her Jive to “Proud Mary,” one of only two dances to score the maximum that evening.
What dances did Amber do on Strictly 2025?
Amber Davies performed a wide range of ballroom and Latin dances during Strictly 2025, including: Waltz (Week 1, to Adele’s “When We Were Young”), Samba, American Smooth, Argentine Tango, Cha Cha, Viennese Waltz, Salsa, Paso Doble, and Jive. In the Final, she performed the Paso Doble to “Dream On” by Aerosmith, a Show Dance to “Rain on Me” by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, and the Jive to “Proud Mary” as her favourite dance from the series — the last of which scored a perfect 40.
Has Amber Davies danced professionally before Strictly?
Yes. Amber trained in musical theatre dance at the Urdang Academy in London on a full scholarship from the age of sixteen, giving her strong performance dance, jazz, and contemporary training. She also competed in Dancing on Ice (Series 16, 2024) with partner Simon Proulx-Sénécal, coming close to reaching the final. However, she was clear throughout her Strictly 2025 appearance that ballroom and Latin dance were entirely new disciplines for her, requiring her to “start from scratch” technically, as her theatrical training did not equip her with the specific footwork, frame, and technique required by competitive ballroom and Latin.
What was the controversy about Amber’s experience on Strictly?
Some Strictly viewers raised concerns online that Amber Davies’s background in professional musical theatre and her prior Dancing on Ice experience gave her an unfair advantage over celebrities with no dance training at all. Amber addressed this directly on It Takes Two, saying: “Ballroom and Latin are worlds apart from what I’ve experienced on a West End stage. Completely different techniques.” The show’s casting team and judges acknowledged the complexity of the issue but defended Amber’s scores as reflecting the actual quality of what she produced on the floor rather than assumptions about her background.
What is Amber Davies doing after Strictly?
Following her Strictly 2025 runner-up finish, Amber Davies is set to star as Elle Woods in a major UK touring production of Legally Blonde the Musical, beginning in 2026. Elle Woods — the iconic character made famous by Reese Witherspoon in the 2001 film — is one of musical theatre’s most celebrated roles and the Legally Blonde tour will see Amber headline major theatre venues across the country. She also continues her Call to Stage podcast, hosts various media projects, and maintains her stage career as one of the UK’s most prominent younger West End performers.
What was Amber Davies in before Strictly?
Before Strictly Come Dancing 2025, Amber Davies had appeared in a number of high-profile productions including 9 to 5: The Musical (West End, Savoy Theatre), Bring It On: The Musical, Back to the Future: The Musical (West End, Adelphi Theatre), Pretty Woman: The Musical, and The Great Gatsby: The Musical. She also starred in the CBBC television drama series Almost Never, competed in Dancing on Ice Series 16 in 2024, hosted the documentary Amber and Dolly: 9 to 5, and runs the Call to Stage podcast interviewing theatre professionals.
Did Amber Davies get a 10 on Strictly?
Yes. Amber Davies scored a perfect 40 (four 10s from all four judges) for her Jive to “Proud Mary” in the Strictly 2025 Final — one of only two dances during the Final to score the maximum. Judge Craig Revel Horwood had predicted early in the series that 10s were coming for Amber, saying: “I’m seeing 10s for this lady. I love her. I really do feel that.” This proved prescient, and the perfect 40 in the Final confirmed the highest possible scoring achievement on the show.
Who won Strictly Come Dancing 2025?
George Clarke, the architect and Channel 4 television presenter, won Strictly Come Dancing Series 23 in 2025, partnered with professional dancer Alexis Warr. George and Alexis’s Viennese Waltz to “Somebody to Love” by Queen was a defining performance of the Final. Amber Davies was the runner-up, finishing ahead of former England international Karen Carney and her partner Carlos Gu in third place. The winner is determined by public vote, with judges’ scores serving as guidance only in the Final.
Is Amber Davies Welsh?
Yes. Amber Davies was born on 4 October 1996 in Denbigh, Denbighshire, North Wales, and grew up in the North Wales community. She attended Ysgol Glan Clwyd, a Welsh-medium secondary school in Rhyl. She has spoken warmly about her Welsh heritage throughout her career, referencing her childhood participation in the Eisteddfod, the Welsh-language cultural festival. Her North Welsh background is a point of pride that she has maintained throughout her career in London and the West End.
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