Strictly’s Amber Davies seen with pro partner Nikita Kuzmin for the first time as fellow celebs left ‘furious’ over the ‘experienced dancer’ and West End star replacing injured Dani Dyer

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Amber Davies from Strictly Come Dancing has posted the first photo of herself with her dance partner, Nikita Kuzmin. This comes after she stepped in to replace Dani Dyer, who was injured, just before the first live show on Saturday.

The 28-year-old, known from Love Island and the West End, looked happy in a photo taken during dance rehearsals. This comes amid reports that some of her fellow contestants are upset about her previous dance training.

Competition bosses were expecting great things from Dani, 29, who was initially paired with Nikita. However, it was announced on Tuesday that she had to leave the competition after breaking her ankle during a training session.

Although Amber doesn’t have much time to get ready, she’s a seasoned dancer. She’s starred in leading roles in musicals like The Great Gatsby and 9 to 5, and she’s also performed as a dancer at London’s Cirque Le Soir nightclub.

According to a source, the celebrities are putting on a brave face and trying not to show producers that they’re dissatisfied.

However, people are privately saying it’s unfair that the show now features two very experienced and talented dancers.

Sources told The Sun that having one celebrity with a privileged background is acceptable, but having two raises concerns about fairness, especially if both make it to the final round.

Daily Mail have contacted BBC and Amber’s representatives for comment.  

Now that Amber has joined the cast, it’s become clear that a lot of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing contestants already know how to dance.

The show aims to teach celebrities how to dance with the help of professional dancers, but surprisingly, many of them are already quite good.

While she may not have long to prepare, Amber has plenty of dance experience behind her. 

This performer is a trained dancer and musical theatre artist. They earned a diploma in the field, studied dance in secondary school, and received further training at Danceworld Stage School.

Oh my gosh, even back then, she was destined for greatness! As a teenager, she went to the Urdang Academy – can you believe it? – and seriously honed her skills in musical theatre. It’s like, that’s where it *all* began, you know? I just knew she’d be amazing, and Urdang helped her get there!

Last year, Amber competed on the ITV show Dancing On Ice and achieved a strong fifth-place finish, partnered with professional skater Simon Proulx-Senecal.

Many Strictly fans were unimpressed with the signing due to Amber’s past dance experience. 

They expressed their disappointment on social media, stating that the show, which featured a professional dancer, had gone completely off track and needed a fresh start.

Someone wondered if she’d been on Dancing on Ice before. The difference is, Strictly Come Dancing focuses on the process of learning to dance, while this seems to be jumping straight to the performance.

‘Another dancer? She may play it down but this is her career. I don’t think that’s fair really.’ 

She’s a professional dancer who even competed on Dancing On Ice a while back. But her skills are actually a bit too advanced for this particular show.

I was so excited to learn that Lewis Cope, who now plays Jacob in Emmerdale, is already a really talented dancer! He actually trained years ago when he landed the part of Billy in ‘Billy Elliott’ on the West End stage. It’s amazing to see his dance background coming into play!

It’s also been revealed that he was once on the Sky show *Got To Dance* as part of a dance group named Ruff Diamond.

Hosted by Davina McCall, the show searched for the UK’s most talented dancer. Each week, contestants performed, hoping to win a cash prize.

Lewis, with Ruff Diamond, reached the final of the 2013 series and finished in fourth place.

Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, who competed as Nitro on the show Gladiators, is also a skilled dancer.

Although the Team GB sprinter has never danced professionally, he appeared on the 2024 Strictly Christmas special with Nancy Xu. This experience will likely help him pick up the choreography during rehearsals.

EastEnders actress Balvinder Sopal shared that she used to enjoy Latin and ballroom dancing as a pastime.

Appearing on Good Morning Britain, she explained she briefly tried ballroom and Latin dancing as a hobby and thoroughly enjoyed it. She added that having a passion for something makes it much more enjoyable.

Similar to Amber, La Voix, who is known from RuPaul’s Drag Race, also trained at Urdang Academy and probably gained some dance skills there.

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2025-09-27 01:34