Strictly’s Amber Davies addresses criticism: ‘I can’t believe I have to say this in 2025’

For all the stick Amber Davies has received for taking part in Strictly Come Dancing as a late replacement for the injured Dani Dyer, the former Love Island star has remained remarkably composed.

Days before the grand finale of the series, Metro attended the press conference at the BBC’s London headquarters for the three finalists who’ve made it to the last stage of the competition.

Sat beside her professional dance partner Nikita Kuzmin in what was aptly described by La Voix (who is hosting this Strictly final press conference) as the equivalent of a Premier Inn meeting room with a finger buffet on the side, the West End performer seems to know what’s coming.

For the past few weeks, the 29-year-old has faced everything from fellow contestant’s family members criticising ‘experienced dancers’ to viewers claiming that she copied a dance routine from The Great Gatsby musical.

So, the question’s on everybody’s lips is – what does she make of the ‘hate’ she keeps receiving? How is she able to silence the noise?

But for Amber, who has maintained that she was ‘never supposed to be here’ in the first place, the abuse she has received is indicative of a larger issue in our society.

‘I have a lot of young women who follow me and 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,’ Amber tells Metro along with other publications inside the BBC.

‘I can’t believe I have to say this in 2025, but being ambitious as a woman, being confident, having dreams and working hard does not mean you’re stuck up. It doesn’t mean that you’re arrogant and I want to change that.’

The Strictly finalist continues: ‘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. That’s it. 

‘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. And the fact that I was given this [opportunity], no one was going to decline Strictly Come Dancing as a Strictly fan. 

‘So I just want to reiterate, we live once. Whatever you’re ambitious about… 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. 

‘I just still can’t believe you have to say this in 2025.’

For Amber’s fellow Strictly finalist Karen Carney, who broke a record by becoming the first footballer to ever reach the final, her experience on the BBC dance competition has also gone far beyond the dancefloor.

The former Arsenal and England footballer, who was capped 144 times for her country, explains how taking part in Strictly has ‘fixed’ something within her.

‘For probably the last five or six years I’ve been open and honest about how I’ve been crushed quite a lot in terms of my confidence and I couldn’t figure out how to fix that,’ the 38-year-old said.

As an avid Strictly fan, Karen says she ‘knew in her heart that Strictly would be the thing to fix me’.

‘I don’t know why I thought it would be, but every Saturday I’ve watched it at home and I’d just forget about everything else and I’d fall in love with everybody and just enjoy their journeys,’ she says.

‘I thought if I ever got the opportunity to have the privilege to join it, I felt like it would be the safe environment to fix me and help me again. And it absolutely has for me.’

Meanwhile, George Clarke, who has been touted as a favourite ahead of the BBC One final on Saturday, tells the room that he has found an entirely new fanbase as of late.

The social media star boasts 2.3 million followers on TikTok, but all sorts of fans are starting to stop him on the street.

‘It’s been mental,’ he says. ‘It’s a completely different world to what I’m used to. I’m used to performing to a camera that’s right in front of my face and I cut out all of the rubbish bits. Unfortunately, I can’t do that on the ballroom floor.’

Outside of ‘learning how to dance’, George claims that he has ‘learned a lot about himself’.  

‘It’s been a real journey and I have really come out my shell,’ he explains.

‘I feel like [Strictly] is something that my family can properly understand. They’ve always been very supportive, but they didn’t really know what I did.’

Following on from Angry Ginge’s I’m A Celebrity win, we could be heading towards a situation where two social media stars could win the biggest competitions in television.

For George, though, he says he is just happy to see ‘representation’ of other contestants like himself.

He says: ‘I feel like [social media stars are] a whole demographic that hasn’t really been touched massively up until recently in mainstream TV. It’s nice to just have a bit of representation in that respect.’

The Strictly Come Dancing final airs on Saturday at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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