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Amber Davies has hit out at Strictly Come Dancing viewers who have complained about her presence on the series.
The former reality star’s participation in the 2025 edition of the BBC competition led to a debate due to her previous experience in West End musicals, and Davies has faced increased criticism in recent weeks.
Ahead of the finale on Saturday (20 December), Davies has said that while she “understands where people are coming from”, she believes viewers “don’t want to warm to” her and are mistaking her confidence for arrogance.
“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,” she told The Mirror.
“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 are stuck up. It doesn’t mean you are arrogant. I want to change that. It shouldn’t even be the narrative.”
She continued: “I’ve had lots of people say, ‘I can’t warm to her.’ It’s because they don’t want to warm to me. That’s it.”
Davies also highlighted that each series has a contestant who gets negative comments over their previous experience, stating: “I feel like this isn’t a new story”.
“We’ve seen it every single season, Layton Williams, Ashley Roberts, Danny Mac had it, so it didn’t come as a surprise. But it’s definitely only really amped up in the past couple of weeks,” she added.
‘I had to fight to get into the final’: Amber Davies and her ‘Strictly’ partner Nikita Kuzmin (BBC)
Davies acknowledged she has more dancing experience compared to the other finalists, but stressed that musical theatre is the “polar opposite” of other dances she’s had to perform throughout the series.
“I feel like I’ve worked just as hard as the other finalists,” she said. “I had to fight to get into the final; we are here for entertainment.
“I was given this opportunity. Nobody was going to decline Strictly as a Strictly fan.”
Davies, who has starred in productions of Pretty Woman, 9 to 5: The Musical, and The Great Gatsby, will compete in the show’s grand final with her professional partner Nikita Kuzmin after winning a tense dance-off last weekend against actor Balvinder Sopal and her partner Julian Caillon.
The show’s other finalists are former Lioness Karen Carney and YouTuber George Clarke.