Dani Dyer has shared a new statement after it was revealed Strictly stars are ‘furious’ she’s been replaced by Amber Davies.
Earlier this week reality star Dani Dyer, 29, was forced to withdraw from the BBC show after fracturing her ankle during training.
Ahead of Saturday’s first live show, bosses replaced her with former Love Island star Amber Davies.
Amber, 28, has plenty of dance experience behind her, including leading roles in musicals The Great Gatsby, 9 to 5 and having worked as a dancer at London nightclub Cirque Le Soir.
It reportedly left the rest of the celebrity lineup ‘furious’ as they continue their training for the ballroom.
Now, Dani Dyer has taken to social media as she wished the Strictly team look for the first live show of the series.
In an Instagram story, she penned: ‘Good luck to all the gorgeous cast starting there strictly journey tonight can’t wait to watch you all, so proud & know how hard you’ve all been working.. see you all soon.’
A source had told The Sun of the reported backstage anger: ‘The celebs are trying to be good sports about everything and don’t want to let on to show bosses they’re unhappy.
‘But behind the scenes, all the chatter is they think it’s unfair that the line-up now includes two sensational dancers who have substantial experience on stage.’
They added: ‘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 the BBC told Daily Mail: ‘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.’
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.
She previously took part in Dancing On Ice, where she finished in a respectable fourth place.
At the time, she defended her dance experience, telling Daily Mail: ‘I think people will not think that because honestly in skating I’ve had to bin half of my dance training anyway!’
‘Everything in dancing is keep straight legs and you kind of have to let go when you’re on the ice.
‘The only quality that I’ve got is that I can perform. I will be able to tell the story whether it’s a sad number or whether it’s a happy number – but other than that it’s going to be difficult.
‘But I feel like people will sympathise. At the end of the day you’re balancing on two blades – I don’t think it matters what training you’ve got.’