Amber Davies was forced to withdraw from a performance of Legally Blonde: The Musical midway through after falling ill, with understudy Hannah Lowther stepping in to complete the role. Davies, 29, who plays leading character Elle Woods in the touring production, later told fans her body was “fighting for its life” following months of intense work.
The former Love Island and Strictly Come Dancing star had already been battling a lingering illness and has now confirmed she will be off stage while she recovers. Lowther, who usually appears as Elle’s friend Margot, took over the role during the performance and continued the show. The moment was quickly shared online by theatre-goers, with some praising the understudy for stepping in at short notice.
Davies addressed her absence in an Instagram post, explaining that her recent schedule had taken a toll on her health. “After talking to my doctor, being on antibiotics and trying to recover whilst doing shows is getting me and my health nowhere,” she wrote. “I’ve been working on this lingering illness for a month now so I’ll be off again from my beautiful Elle Woods. This is the last thing I want but there’s no other way.”
She added that she had pushed herself too hard following a run of demanding projects. “I keep having to remind myself I went from Gatsby, to a last-minute Strictly then to Elle so my body’s evidently fighting for its life,” she said. Davies appeared in The Great Gatsby before stepping in at short notice for last year’s series of Strictly Come Dancing, shortly before beginning rehearsals for Legally Blonde.
The production has also attracted attention online in recent weeks after a video circulated showing Davies briefly losing track of choreography during a preview performance and appearing to glance at Lowther to copy her movements. The clip quickly spread on social media, prompting Davies to address the moment in a TikTok video, where she described the mistake as “embarrassing”. Reports have also suggested there has been some tension surrounding the attention given to Lowther’s performances, with a source telling MailOnline that the atmosphere between the two girls could be “a bit tense at times”.
Lowther, who trained at the Italia Conti Academy and has built a following of more than one million on TikTok, has previously stepped into the role during Davies’s absence earlier this year. The musical, based on the 2001 film starring Reese Witherspoon, follows sorority president Elle Woods as she enrols at Harvard Law School to win back her ex-boyfriend, only to discover her own potential along the way. Davies has not confirmed when she expects to return to the stage.
