Emotional Amber Davies thanks fans who have sent her ‘kind and positive’ messages amid Strictly backlash before breaking down in tears and insisting her fellow contestants deserve the win

Strictly Come Dancing star Amber Davies thanked all her fans who have sent her ‘kind and positive’ messages in an emotional speech on Saturday night.

Despite reaching the final of the BBC‘s show’s latest series, the West End star, 29, has experienced her fair share of backlash during the series due to her theatrical background.

Yet on Saturday the former Love Islander thanked fans who had sent kind messages on social media as she got emotional following her dance.

Speaking ahead of their performance in their VT, her dance partner Nikita Kuzmin alluded to the comments when he said ‘We have had a lot of high moments but also lots of lows.’

Amber, who has survived three dance-offs said: ‘Being in the dance offs, I’m kind of glad that happened because it was character building for me to see, “OK, how am I gonna deal with this?” I’ve had to be kinder to myself.

‘What Strictly’s given me is the space to be a lot more comfortable in myself.

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Emotional Amber Davies thanked fans who have sent her ‘kind and positive’ messages amid Strictly backlash before breaking down in tears and insisting her fellow contestants deserve the win

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The former Love Islander and West End star, 29, had just performed her second dance of the night with her professional dance partner Nikita Kuzmin when she made the sweet comment

‘It has completely changed me. I have loved every second of it. It has honestly been the greatest experience of my life.’

After her show dance, where she achieved an overall score of 39 from the judges Claudia asked her: ‘What would you like to say to the people who have supported you?’

An emotional Amber responded: ‘The feeling of people of voting for you is a wild concept and it is such an overwhelming feeling, so if you have voted for us and supported us along the way, you’re the reason we’re here, so I just want to say thank you so much’.

She then added: ‘And if you’ve sent a kind or generous word on social media, we also appreciate that so much, so thank you.’

Amber also revealed that her best friend Natalie is one of the singers in Dave Archer’s band and she had been lucky enough to enjoy the Strictly experience alongside her.

She revealed: ‘I’ve been so lucky to be able to do this, but the fact I’m doing this with my best friend sat right behind me singing her heart out. I love you Natalie Parris. Superstar!

Later in the show, for her third dance, Amber and Nikita danced the jive. It was the first week they received a 40 and the dance Amber revealed in her VT was the moment she realised ‘all their hard work was paying off’.

After she performed her final dance to Tin Turner’s Proud Mary, Amber and Nikita received a perfect score of 40.

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Despite reaching the final of the BBC’s show’s latest series, Amber had experienced her fair share of backlash for joining the lineup, after it was revealed she had a theatrical background, so performing to an audience wasn’t a new concept to her

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Speaking ahead of their performance in their VT, Nikita alluded to the comments when he said ‘We have had a lot of high moments but also lots of lows’

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After her show dance, Claudia asked her if she had a message for those who had supported her and Amber responded: ‘If you’ve sent a kind of generous word on social media, we also appreciate that so much, so thank you’

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Amber also revealed that her best friend Natalie is one of the singers in Dave Archer’s band and she had been lucky enough to enjoy the Strictly experience alongside her

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Later in the show, for her third dance, Amber and Nikita danced the jive and received a perfect score of 40

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Breaking down in tears, she said: ‘It’s just been the best experience of my life and dancing with you [Nikita] has been the greatest honour.’

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Amber also gave a very sweet response when asked about winning the show saying that her fellow contestants ‘deserve it’ and she was routing for them.

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Karen Carney lifted the Glitterball Trophy on Saturday after an emotional finale

Breaking down in tears, she said: ‘It’s just been the best experience of my life and dancing with you has been the greatest honour.’

Talking about the fact she was a late replacement for when Dani Dyer injured herself, she continued: ‘I have learned so much in four months and I wasn’t even supposed to be here, so the fact I’ve gained this knowledge to go into my career with, I have so much to thank Strictly for.’

After Claudia asked her what it would feel like to win, a very emotional Amber replied: ‘Would it be nice to win, yes? Do you know what would be nicer? For one of my friends picks up that glitterball. I love George, I love Karen.

‘I have been so lucky to experience this final with those two, the most genuine, kind hearted people.

‘I feel like I’ve already won by just being here. I wasn’t meant to be here, you know and being in the final, that’s madness. One of them deserves it and I’m routing for it.’

Karen Carney lifted the Glitterball Trophy on Saturday after an emotional finale.

As Tess and Claudia announced she had won, Karen, 38, was left speechless as she embraced her pro partner Carlos.

She said: ‘I cannot believe it. I just wanna say thank you to everybody that’s supported our journey, supported us, and, thank you to this wonderful gentleman [Carlos].

‘We are a team, and, I could not have done this without you, but honestly, I can’t believe it, it’s been the biggest privilege and honour, and, I literally, I’m lost for words. I’m so sorry.’