Strictly icon defends Amber Davies as contestants ‘furious over unfair replacement’

Amber Davies has joined the cast of Strictly Come Dancing 2025 (Picture: BBC)

Strictly Come Dancing veteran Oti Mabuse has defended Amber Davies replacing Dani Dyer on the BBC show amid backlash over the Love Island star’s prior dance experience.

West End performer Davies was announced as Dyer’s replacement after she was forced to bow out of this series due to a fractured ankle.

Davies, 28, first soared to fame on Love Island in 2017 and has since gone on to appear in a variety of stage productions, including 9 to 5, Pretty Woman and Back To The Future.

She will compete with Dyer’s professional dance partner Nikita Kuzmin – but her inclusion in the cast has already prompted mixed reactions, given her stage background. 

Amid the response, former Strictly pro and Dancing on Ice judge Oti Mabuse has jumped to her defence in a new TikTok video.

Having judged Davies on the 2024 series of Dancing on Ice, Mabuse said in a selfie-style video: ‘I just saw that Amber Davies is doing Strictly. Yes I am so excited!

Oti Mabuse weighed in on Davies joining the show (Picture: otimabuse/TikTok)

‘I definitely do think that Strictly, genuinely from the bottom of their heart, they tried to have a non-dance experience series, where very few of them have dance experience and it just flipped and it just turned out that a few of them have it.

‘But the ones who have dance experience are genuinely the ones that set the standard, they’re the ones that create those incredible routines.

‘Like Amber, I know her obviously from Love Island, but even more getting to know her from Dancing On Ice… She’s amazing.

‘She was very nervous to be on ice because it was very scary, but on land she’s going to slay and it’s very exciting. I can’t wait. I think this is Nikita’s chance now to be amazing to create very creative choreography, new choreography.

‘This is his chance to maybe even make lifts that we haven’t seen. Definitely, I think those would be my favourites so far.’

However, it has now been claimed that the Strictly cast are ‘furious’ over Davies stepping into Dyer’s shoes, given her dance experience.

A TV insider is said to have told The Sun that the Strictly contestants are ‘unhappy’ behind the scenes, since two stars now have dance experience: Davies and Emmerdale’s Lewis Cope, who was in the musical Billy Elliot.

Amber seen performing as part of the cast of The Great Gatsby at the London Coliseum (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

The source told the publication: ‘All the chatter is they think it’s unfair that the line-up now includes two sensational dancers who have substantial experience on stage.

‘Having one celeb with that kind of background is one thing but having two is seen as unfair, particularly if they both ended up in the final.’

However, a BBC spokesperson has strongly denied the claim of backstage upset over the matter, telling Metro: ‘We’ve been shown absolutely no evidence to suggest that this story is true, or that the anonymous quote it is based on is from anyone connected to the series.’

Metro contacted Amber Davies’ representative for comment.

Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday and Sunday nights.

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