Amber Davies has been introduced as the newest member of the Strictly Come Dancing lineup, stepping in for Dani Dyer who unfortunately injured her ankle during rehearsals.

The former Love Island contestant, Amber, aged 28, is a seasoned West End performer and will make her appearance on the series’ live show for the first time on Saturday night, dancing alongside her partner, Nikita Kuzmin.

With Amber rounding out the cast, a surprisingly large amount of the celebrities on this year’s Strictly already have prior dance experience.

Although the show’s aim is for celebrities to be taught dancing by their professional counterparts, it seems many contestants this season might not require extensive guidance.

While she may not have long to prepare, Amber has plenty of dance experience behind her. 

The star has a Diploma in Professional Musical Theatre and Dance, took dance as a GCSE subject at school, and trained at Danceworld Stage School.

She attended Urdang Academy for the performing arts as a teenager where she trained in musical theatre.

Amber also previously worked as a dancer at London nightclub Cirque Le Soir. 

Amber showcased her skills last year as a contestant on ITV’s Dancing On Ice, where she impressively secured fifth place with her professional skating partner, Simon Proulx-Senecal.

Many Strictly fans were unimpressed wth the signing due to Amber’s past dance experience. 

Taking to social media, they wrote: ‘A trained dancer! This show has lost the plot in every area Needs a total reset.’

‘Wasn’t she on Dancing On Ice?’… ‘Strictly is about journeys on learning how to dance, this is skipping all that.’

‘Another dancer? She may play it down but this is her career. I don’t think that’s fair really.’ 

‘She is a trained dancer and was on Dancing On Ice a few years ago. She is too trained for this show.’ 

Additionally, Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope is already adept in dance, having honed his skills while performing in the West End production of Billy Elliott.

It has also emerged he previously took part on Sky show Got To Dance where he was a member of a troupe called Ruff Diamond. 

The show, hosted by Davina McCall, aimed to find the UK’s next dance superstar and saw contestants perform each week in the hope of winning a cash prize. 

Lewis, with Ruff Diamond, reached the final of the 2013 series and finished in fourth place.

Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, known as Nitro on Gladiators, also already knows his way around the dance floor.

The Team GB sprinter doesn’t have any professional dance experience but he did take part in the 2024 Strictly Christmas special with Nancy Xu, which will surely give him a leg up when it comes to learning learning the steps in rehearsals.

EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal revealed she previously ‘dabbled’ in Latin and ballroom dancing as a hobby. 

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, she said: ‘I dabbled a little bit, I did ballroom and Latin as a hobby and really loved it. When you’ve got a passion for something, you’re more inclined to enjoy it.’

Like Amber, RuPaul’s Drag Race star La Voix is an alumni of Urdang Academy and will likely have picked up some dance experience there. 

Dani Dyer also had plenty of dance experience herself, having trained in jazz, tap balet and modern dance when she went to theatre school from ages two to 14. 

In her 2019 autobiography, the Love Island star even admited she would previously put ‘qualified dancer’ on her CV. 

Lewis Cope is the current favourite to win with odds of 2/1 on Ladrokes. George Clarke, Amber and Vicky Pattison are joint second with odds of 5/1 each.

Ellie Goldstein has odds of 6/1 while Harry Aikines-Aryeety is close behind at 7/1.

Alex Kingston is on 12/1, Balvinder Soap 14/1, Karen Carney 16/1 and La Voix at 28/1.

The outliers this year to take home the trophy are Jimmy Floyd Hasselbank and Thomas Skinner both at 33/1, Stefan Dennis at 40/1 and Chris Robshaw and Ross King are both at 66/1. 

On joining Strictly, Amber said: ‘This has been the craziest 24 hours of my life.’

She continued: ‘I’ve watched Strictly with my family since I was younger and to now be part of the show is a dream come true.

‘I’m going to give it my all and I am sending Dani well wishes for a speedy recovery. I hope I do her proud.’

Amber has just started rehearsals with her partner Nikita, and they will dance a Waltz on Saturday night.

The announcement follows Dani’s departure from this year’s competition due to injury.

In a statement, BBC bosses confirmed that the door would be left open for ‘heartbroken’ Dani to return next year, saying they ‘hope to welcome her back to the ballroom in the future.’

Dani is also the second star to pull out of this year’s series before the first live show has even aired, as Game Of Thrones star Kristian Nairn withdrew from the lineup due to ‘unexpected medical reasons.’

The Daily Mail broke the news that Dani, one of the show’s favourites, had to bow out on Tuesday, after fracturing her ankle during a training rehearsal last Friday.

Dani later confirmed this in a statement and said: ‘I had a fall on Friday in rehearsals and landed funny. I thought I had rolled my foot but it swelled up badly over the weekend and after an MRI scan yesterday, it turns out I have fractured my ankle.

‘Apparently doing the quickstep on a fracture is not advisable (!!) and the doctors have said I am not allowed to dance so l’ve had to pull out of the show.

‘To say I’m heartbroken is the biggest understatement. I am so going to miss dancing with Nikita but will of course be watching closely and cheering all the couples on.’

The accident occurred before Dani even got to perform one routine.

Sarah James, Executive Producer for BBC Studios said: ‘Dani has brought so much passion, joy and enthusiasm to Strictly, and her partnership with Nikita was off to the most sensational start.

‘Everyone on the show is incredibly sad that she’s no longer able to compete in this year’s series. We send her all our love and best wishes for a swift recovery, and we very much hope to welcome her back to the ballroom in the future.’