Strictly Come Dancing's Amber Davies and Nikita

Strictly Come Dancing’s Amber Davies and Nikita (Image: BBC)

Love Islander turned West End star Amber Davies brilliantly executed the Waltz to When We Were Young by Adele on Saturday evening for the first live Strictly Come Dancing show of 2025. Following the routine, she told hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman: “I didn’t think this would be my Saturday night.” She was paired up with 27-year-old professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin after his original partner, Dani Dyer, was forced to withdraw from the competition after sustaining a nasty injury during training. For days, fans speculated who would replace Dani on the dancefloor, and Amber was announced to step in just two days before the opening night’s show.

Amber Davies replaced Dani Dyer

Amber Davies replaced Dani Dyer (Image: BBC)

 

In the wake of last night’s live programme, Amber took to Instagram to share an emotional post which left her followers “in tears”. The 28-year-old, who rose to fame on Love Island in 2017, shared a series of sweet snaps of herself dancing with Nikita.

She captioned the post: “What just happened! 48 hours ago, I had never met @nikita__kuzmin, and we just danced a waltz on @bbcstrictly? I feel every emotion under the sun right now, but mostly, I am so unbelievably GRATEFUL to have experienced that special moment tonight!”

Flocking to comment on her admission, one fan wrote: “Nothing but tears over here. So unbelievably proud of you amb.” A second shared: “Absolutely sobbing, so proud of you!!”

Another added: “Absolutely UNREAL! You never fail to amaze me! Superstar.” Meanwhile, someone else said: “You were simply exquisite @amb_d I cannot wait to see what you and @nikita__kuzmin have in store for us next week.”

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While there was no public vote last night, former footballer Karen Carney and pro Carlos Gu topped the leaderboard with 31 points.

Amber and Nikita scored an impressive 27 points, which placed them high up on the leaderboard.

At the bottom was journalist Ross King, who was given just 10 points by judges Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, Craig Revel Horwood and Anton du Beke.