Amber Davies has expressed gratitude towards her Strictly Come Dancing colleagues after reaching the final, despite facing backlash from older viewers. The 29-year-old Love Island star and her professional partner Nikita Kuzmin, 27, have endured 12 weeks and three dance-offs to secure their place in Saturday's (December 20) finale.
During Sunday's (December 14) results show, the judges unanimously saved Amber and Nikita after their dance-off against EastEnders actress Balvinder Sopal and her partner Julian Caillon. This marked the second consecutive week the pair were saved, having previously beaten Emmerdale's Lewis Cope and his partner Katya Jones.
Amber has faced online abuse throughout the series, with critics questioning whether her West End theatre background gives her an unfair advantage. The commentary has at times crossed into outright bullying. Following Sunday's programme, Amber turned to social media to thank supporters and pay tribute to fellow competitors.
Posting a picture with eliminated semi-finalist Balvinder, Amber wrote: 'To do this experience next to you has been the biggest gift and life lesson, your strength and resilience has inspired me every single day.' In a video message, she said: 'I just wanna come on here and say in the close to a decade I've been in the public eye, I've never experienced an outpouring of love the way I have in the last 48 hours.'
During Saturday's live show, Nikita defended Amber, telling her: 'You have had so much hate every single day from the moment you joined... just please be kind because it costs nothing and you don't deserve none of it.' Amber later posted an optimistic message about the final week, stating: 'It's not about winning for me, it never [was].'
