Amber Davies blames 'older audience' for Strictly Come Dancing criticism
Love Island star Amber Davies feels that "older" viewers were more responsible for the trolling she faced online when competing in Strictly Come Dancing last year.
Amber Davies believes that she faced more online criticism from "older" Strictly Come Dancing viewers.
The former Love Island winner reached the final of last year's series of the BBC Saturday night favourite with her professional partner Nikita Kuzmin and claims that it was actually older audience members who questioned whether she should be on the show because of her background as a West End actress.
Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, Amber said of the trolling: "I genuinely think it's getting worse.
"With TikTok, when people jump on a bandwagon, they go for it.
"But I feel like the nasty comments I was getting (on Strictly) weren't actually coming from the younger audience, they came from the older audience."
Despite her online detractors, Amber loved being on Strictly and is "heartbroken" that her time on the show has come to an end.
The 29-year-old star - who was a late replacement for the injured Dani Dyer on the programme - said: "Being in the Strictly bubble, it's so magical. I'll never experience anything like that again. I'm heartbroken it's over."
Amber, who has appeared in theatre productions including Back to the Future: The Musical and The Great Gatsby, first found fame when she won the ITV2 series Love Island with Kim Cetinay in 2017 and has no regrets about taking part in the show - even though the pair split just five months later.
She said: "I had the summer of my life.
"And I know my truth was that I did genuinely fall in love."
Many of the Welsh star's stage roles have been in shows adapted from films and she explained that such productions are more likely to be successful in the theatre world.
Davies, who will feature as Elle Woods in a UK tour of Legally Blonde the Musical from next month, said: "Movie musicals are paying my mortgage!
"This industry is extremely tough. It's a lot easier to bring an audience in if they're familiar with a story. It would be nice for there to be a space for brand new, original musicals, but I just think in this climate, we don't see as much of a bite towards those."
Amber also stressed that she has had to fight hard for every part, even though her fame away from the stage arguably brings additional appeal to a production.
She said: "I've had to fight tooth and nail for roles... I don't think I've ever been given a role I haven't deserved."
