Amber Davies has pulled out of her starring role in Legally Blonde over an illness just as rumours of backstage tension with her understudy have started to emerge
Amber Davies has pulled out of her starring role in Legally Blonde. The Love Island winner, 29, landed the part of sorority-girl-turned-lawyer Elle Woods in the stage musical adaptation of the 2001 film towards the end of last year, and the production set about touring the UK just over four weeks ago.
But the actress, who reached the final of Strictly Come Dancing in December, has now pulled out of shows for the foreseeable over a sudden illness.
She wrote on Instagram: “Ok update: after talking to my DR, being on antibiotics and trying to recover whilst doing shows is getting me and my health NOWHERE. Been working on this lingering illness for a month now so I’ll be off again from my beautiful Elle Woods.
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“This is the last thing I want but there’s no other way. I fear if I keep “pushing through” I will be battling with this for longer than I need to be. I can’t wait to be back on stage and feel like me again!!!”
Amber, who previously appeared in stage adaptations of Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5, The Great Gatsby and Pretty Woman, then addressed her hectic schedule that has been put upon in her in recent months.
She added: “Also I keep having to remind myself I went from Gatsby, to a last min Strictly, then to Elle so my body’s evidently fighting for its life. I also keep reminding myself that it’s ok to be poorly, we are human. Just a reminder there’s absolutely never a right time to be poorly in a musical theatre schedule so you must, for your own sanity, go with the flow!”
Following on from the 2001 film, in which Elle Woods was played by Reese Witherspoon, the film was adapted for the stage in 2007 and the part has since been played by a host of British actresses such as Sheridan Smith, who won an Olivier Award for her performance, and former X Factor star Lucie Jones. But while Amber is away from the production, it will be social media star Hannah Lowther who will be filling in.
Hannah found fame on TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic and amassed a following of more than one million as she performed during shifts at Tesco.
Since then, she’s gone on to appear in Six, the stage show based on the wives of Henry VIII, and The SpongeBob Musical, where she played Karen.
In Legally Blonde, she normally plays the supporting role of Margot and has been covering for Amber during her scheduled weekly day off.
When the tour opened, Amber hit out at a viral video in which she appeared to have forgotten the dance moves in the finale and looked to Hannah for support.
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She said: “I forgot there was a dance break coming. I feel like you can see me looking at Hannah and copy what she does with her hands. So yeah, that’s embarrassing, that’s going to be in the public domain for the rest of my working career.”
Recently, insiders explained to the Daily Mail that “tension” had developed backstage after audiences seemed to be preferring her portrayal of Elle.
A source said: “When Hannah goes on, the energy is completely different. She gives it ten times more energy than Amber ever has, and just has that sparkle that Amber lacks.
“Everyone backstage is professional, but it would be fair to say the atmosphere between the two girls can be a bit tense at times.”
Despite this, Hannah, who also auditioned for the part of Elle, previously had nothing but praise for her co-star and praised her during her time on Strictly.
Hannah told The Mirror: “Amber is just the sweetest, loveliest human being in the world. I’ve always wanted to go on Strictly one day!
“I’ve trained in musical theatre, but every week I watch Strictly Come Dancing and think, ‘Oh gosh, I wouldn’t know how to do that, I wouldn’t know how do that. It’s a completely different dance style, it’s completely different from our training.”
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