{"id":226704,"date":"2025-10-26T15:46:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T15:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/226704\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T15:46:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T15:46:11","slug":"meet-amber-davies-the-last-minute-strictly-contestant-rushed-in-to-replace-dani-dyer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/226704\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Amber Davies: The last-minute Strictly contestant rushed in to replace Dani Dyer"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Former reality star Amber Davies became the last-minute hero of this year\u2019s Strictly Come Dancing<\/a> series when she replaced Dani Dyer <\/a>a day before the first 2025 live show. <\/p>\n

The 28-year-old Love Island<\/a> winner, who came first in the ITV dating competition in 2017 alongside her then-partner Kem Cetinay, was revealed to be joining the cast after Dyer withdrew from the programme due to an ankle injury. <\/p>\n

Asked how she felt about joining with minimal training, Davies said: \u201cThis has been the craziest 24 hours of my life. I\u2019ve watched Strictly with my family since I was younger and to now be part of the show is a dream come true. <\/p>\n

She added: \u201cI\u2019m going to give it my all and I am sending Dani well wishes for a speedy recovery. I hope I do her proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite Davies and Cetinay winning Love Island in 2017, the couple split just a few months after the series came to an end and she has since been dating West End actor Ben Joyce for the past two years. <\/p>\n

Davies, who was born in Denbigh, North Wales, landed numerous lucrative brand collaborations following her time on Love Island, including a \u00a3500,000 deal to become the face of Motel Rocks. <\/p>\n

However, the star, who\u2019d gained a scholarship to train in musical theatre at the Urdang Academy in London as a teenager, ultimately had ambitions to return to the stage following her reality TV stint. <\/p>\n

\"Amber<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Amber Davies on ‘Love Island’ in 2017 (ITV)<\/p>\n

A year after Davies left Love Island it was announced she would make her West End debut as office girl July Bernly in the Dolly Parton musical 9 to 5, alongside Louise Redknapp. <\/p>\n

Critics were dubious but Davies told The Standard at the time: \u201cI only graduated in 2016, so I’m very fresh out of college. But I am trained and I have every right to be her.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cI’m waiting and ready to prove people wrong. <\/p>\n

\u201cI 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 \u2013 I want everyone to be pleasantly surprised.\u201d <\/p>\n

Davies went on to land roles in further West End shows, including Bring It On, Back to the Future and Pretty Woman, in which she played the lead role of Vivian Ward. <\/p>\n

Next year, she will play Reese Witherspoon\u2019s role of Elle Woods in a Legally Blonde musical, which will tour across the UK and Ireland. <\/p>\n

\"Davies<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Davies on stage alongside Corbin Bleu in ‘The Great Gatsby’ musical (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Davies emphasised that her time on Love Island \u201cdoesn\u2019t define\u201d her, noting she\u2019s worked hard and has had vocal coaching since she was six. \u201c[I\u2019ve] always wanted to be on the West End stage,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the actor\u2019s first foray into a daring televised competition. Last year, she competed in the 16th series of Dancing on Ice, alongside Armenian national champion Simon Proulx-S\u00e9n\u00e9cal. <\/p>\n

The pair made it to the semi finals but were eliminated in week eight, with radio host Adele Roberts, Made in Chelsea star Miles Nazaire and Coronation Street actor Ryan Thomas beating her to the final.<\/p>\n

\"Davies<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Davies joined the 2025 ‘Strictly’ cast just one day before the first live show (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

While Davies professional dance training may help her with rhythm and flexibility when it comes to learning some Strictly routines, the ballroom and latin techniques are sure to still put her through her paces. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-226704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}