Strictly 2025 star shuts down claim she took a swipe at ‘experienced celebrities’
The debate about 'dance experience' crops up every year.
A star of Strictly Come Dancing has shut down claims that she’s criticised celebrities who go on the show with dance experience.
This comes as a debate continues surrounding the inclusion of Love Island winner and theatre actress Amber Davies, who is partnered with professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin.
Amber, 29, was brought onto the show as a replacement for Dani Dyer, following her drop-out due to injury.
However, some have questioned whether Amber might have an unfair advantage over her fellow contestants due to her West End experience.
Critics have included the wife of England Rugby star Chris Robshaw. Chris’s wife, Camilla Kerslake, later expressed regret over her remarks, admitting that she reacted after feeling ‘protective’ of her husband.
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It was reported that the athlete’s professional dance partner, Nadiya Bychkova, had been critical of the line-up of celebrities including people with past dance experience. However, she has now clarified her comments.
Amber Davies has been partnered on this year’s Strictly with Nikita Kuzmin (Picture: BBC)In a post shared on Instagram, Nadiya, 36, insisted that she ‘hasn’t slammed experienced celebs’, ‘waded into a row over trained celebrities’ or ‘criticised producers’.
‘I love the fact that Strictly is for people of all abilities and one of my great joys in life is teaching people to dance,’ she wrote.
‘It’s great to have celebrities with some experience on the show and it’s also beautiful to see how people like Chris, who have never danced and performed before, improve.
‘That is what Strictly is all about and that is why it is loved by millions of people.’
Amber responded in the comments, writing: ‘You’re the most gracious and kindest woman I have ever met. ❤️.’
Nadiya is competing with Rugby player Chris Robshaw (Picture: BBC)Nadiya’s post came following reports that she had joined in the debate about experienced celebrities competing on Strictly.
According to The Sun, she said that it was ‘really sad’ that people with less dance experience sometimes leave the show earlier.
‘It’s nice for the audience to see that it’s possible to learn, but you do need to put in the work, which Chris is doing every day,’ she said.
‘In this situation, it’s not only Chris, it’s any contestant who didn’t have any experience, not just dance — it’s any kind of performance experience.’
The professional dancer added: ‘It’s the experience of knowing how to do that which is completely new and you can’t get overnight.’
Some have wondered whether Amber might have an unfair advantage (Picture: BBC)Earlier this week, Chris’s wife, Camilla Kerslake, described the situation as ‘unfair.’
This came in response to former Love Islander Amber Gill, who had written on Instagram: ‘Unpopular opinion: I think having people with so much dance experience is unfair.’
Camilla then responded: ‘The experience differences are absolutely wild. Definitely.’
Later on, Camilla spoke to the Daily Mail, stating: ‘I hope my big mouth won’t get Chris in the bottom two. I was furious last week, a protective wife, and I wanted to climb over the desk and give Craig [Revel Horwood] what for.
‘I’m so protective of my husband. I know how hard he’s working, how much this means to him, and I reacted.’
Amber will appear in Legally Blonde: The Musical next year (Picture: Instagram)In 2019, Amber starred as Judy Bernly in 9 to 5: The Musical, before appearing in Bring It On: The Musical in 2021, Back to the Future: The Musical in 2022, and Pretty Woman in 2023.
She is currently playing Jordan Baker in the West End and European premiere of The Great Gatsby, and will play Elle Woods in the 2026 UK tour of Legally Blonde: The Musical.
She has also appeared on Dancing on Ice, competing in season 16 of the show in 2024.
Amber made her Strictly debut on September 20 (Picture: BBC)As news of her casting broke, The Sun claimed that her fellow castmates were ‘furious’ at her inclusion, due to her perceived ‘advantage’ in the competition.
An unnamed 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.’
Referencing Emmerdale star Lewis Cope – who previously starred in Billy Elliot: The Musical – they continued: ‘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 spokesperson for Strictly told Metro.co.uk: 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.’
Amber has described her Strictly experience as ‘a lot harder’ than she’d expected (Picture: BBC)Amber addressed the issue herself during an appearance on spin-off show Strictly: It Takes Two, when questioned by host Fleur East.
Fleur dove straight in, asking: So you’ve obviously had some dance experience before but you’ve never done Latin or ballroom. How much do you think your musicality helped you through the routine?’
To which Amber responded: ‘Musicality helped a lot. I can hear the music, I can feel the music but it was the technical aspect, where we didn’t have time to think about heel and toe.’
She then admitted that she was finding the whole experience harder than she had anticipated.
‘Ballroom and Latin are worlds apart from what I’ve experienced on a west end stage,’ she told Fleur.
‘It’s a completely different technique and it’s a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.’
