Strictly’s Nikita Kuzmin says Amber Davies has faced ‘so much hate’ since joining the show and begs viewers to ‘be kind’ – after star received flurry of trolling for securing a place in the semi-final

Strictly‘s Nikita Kuzmin issued a heartfelt plea to viewers on Saturday evening after his dance partner Amber Davies faced a wave of online trolling for securing a place in the semi-final.

The professional dancer, 27, and his celebrity partner Amber, 29, wowed the audience and judges with a Couple’s Choice routine to RAYE‘s rendition of Fly Me to the Moon, marking their second performance of the evening.

The pair earned an impressive 40 points from judges Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, and Anton Du Beke, placing them second on the leaderboard after scoring 37 points earlier in the show for their Tango.

Following their performance, Nikita and Amber joined fellow contestants and host Claudia Winkleman, 53, backstage to reflect on their dance.

And Nikita used the moment to urge viewers to ‘be kind’ as he explained why Amber deserved to be in the final.

Turning towards his dance partner Amber, he said: ‘You have had so much hate every single day from the moment you joined,

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Strictly’s Nikita Kuzmin issued a heartfelt plea to viewers on Saturday evening after his dance partner Amber Davies faced a wave of online trolling for securing a place in the semi-final

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The professional dancer, 27, and his celebrity partner Amber, 29, wowed the audience and judges with a Couple’s Choice routine to RAYE’s rendition of Fly Me to the Moon, marking their second performance of the evening

‘You’ve had so much hate this week and yet, you came every single day into the training room with a big smile ignoring everybody.

‘And just giving me love, giving me a ginger shot as well. But you gave so much love, you always were kind, so caring, you care more about me when I’m supposed to care about you. You care about me every single day, you are such a lovely kind person.

‘And I think sometimes, and I speak to the audience at home, just please be kind because it costs nothing and you (Amber) don’t deserve none of it.

‘You only deserve love because without you I wouldn’t be here, and the show wouldn’t be as good as it is.’

It comes after Amber, who is also a professionally trained dancer, admitted that the backlash is getting to her on Wednesday’s episode of It Takes Two.

She was drafted in as a last-minute replacement for her fellow Love Island star Dani Dyer, 29, after she injured herself while preparing for the show.

But fans were not happy when Amber and her pro partner Nikita beat Lewis Cope and dance pro Katya Jones on Sunday to secure a place in Saturday’s semi-final and flooded social media with criticism.

Amber said: ‘I would like to think I have thick skin, but obviously the start of the week has been tougher than usual.

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The pair earned an impressive 40 points from judges Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, and Anton Du Beke

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Which placed them second on the leaderboard after scoring 37 points earlier in the show for their Tango

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Following their performance, Nikita and Amber joined fellow contestants and host Claudia Winkleman, 53, backstage to reflect on their dance and Nikita used the moment to urge viewers to ‘be kind’ as he explained why Amber deserved to be in the final

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Turning towards his dance partner Amber, he said: ‘You have had so much hate every single day from the moment you joined, You’ve had so much hate this week and yet, you came every single day into the training room with a big smile ignoring everybody’

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He continued: ‘And just giving me love, giving me a ginger shot as well. But you gave so much love, you always were kind, so caring, you care more about me when I’m supposed to care about you. You care about me every single day, you are such a lovely kind person’

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He went on: ‘And I think sometimes, and I speak to the audience at home, just please be kind because it costs nothing and you (Amber) don’t deserve none of it. You only deserve love because without you I wouldn’t be here’

‘I would just like to remind everybody that I was never supposed to be here. I was a quick replacement. I’m just doing my best.’

Amber then took the opportunity to thank those who have been supportive of her Strictly journey and added: ‘The love is actually more overpowering than the hate, so if you’ve sent a message or a kind comment our way, then we really do appreciate it so much.’

She wrote on Instagram after last Sunday’s dance-off: ‘I will always be your number one fan Lewis Cope.

‘To go up against one of the greatest dancers Strictly has ever seen was simply terrifying, however, I was actually dancing against my best friend in this competition, and that broke my heart.’

Elsewhere on the show’s semi-finals on Saturday evening, Balvinder Sopal, 47, made a triumphant return to the dancefloor, kicking off the show with a sizzling salsa.

The actress and her professional partner Julian Caillon, 30, took to the dancefloor and wowed the audience with a high-energy routine to Gloria Estefan’s hit Rhythm Is Gonna Get You.

The pair scored an impressive 35 out of 40 from judges Craig, Shirley, Motsi, and Anton.

Balvinder looked over the moon as she returned to the ballroom after surviving the dance-off five times during the competition.

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Elsewhere on the show’s semi-finals on Saturday evening, Balvinder Sopal, 47, made a triumphant return to the dancefloor, kicking off the show with a sizzling salsa

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The actress and her professional partner Julian Caillon, 30, took to the dancefloor and wowed the audience with a high-energy routine to Gloria Estefan’s hit Rhythm Is Gonna Get You

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The pair scored an impressive 35 out of 40 from judges Craig, Shirley, Motsi, and Anton

Following their performance, the judges were full of praise for the EastEnders star.

Head judge Shirley, 65, described the routine as ‘fantastic’, adding that it was ‘real, authentic and on point’.

Meanwhile, Anton, 59, said: ‘What a start! you set the benchmark right there, you went okay this is what i’ve got. It’s going to take some beating I tell you.’

Craig, 60, added: ‘The transitions were a little bit stop and start for me. but you have a marvelous way of isolating your body. you have fantastic rhythm, and you gave that dance your all.’

Later in the evening, the duo returned to the dance floor to perform a waltz to Michael Bublé’s 2009 hit At This Moment.

They earned 35 points from the judges, placing them at the bottom of the leaderboard, with George Clarke, 26, just two points ahead.

Elsewhere in the show, Karen Carney broke down in tears after her moving performance.

The former footballer, 38, and her professional partner Carlos Gu, 32, took to the dancefloor and wowed the audience and judges with a waltz to Whitney Houston‘s hit One Moment In Time.

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Later in the evening, the duo returned to the dance floor to perform a waltz to Michael Bublé’s 2009 hit At This Moment

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They earned 35 points from the judges, placing them at the bottom of the leaderboard, with George Clarke, 26, just two points ahead (pictured: George Clarke and Alexis Warr)

The pair scored an impressive 39 points from the judges, catapulting them to the top of the leaderboard at the beginning of the show.

Following her performance, Karen became overwhelmed with emotion as she joined host Tess on the dancefloor to await the judges’ feedback.

She fought back tears while the panel praised her emotional routine.

Anton said: ‘Look at the state of me, I’m an emotional wreck. Never knew you could dance like that, quality, softness and sensitivity, my heart skips a beat at your journey.’

Craig added: ‘Left elbow and head placement issues but it had flow and elegance, very beautiful.’

Motsi said: ‘I couldn’t recognise you, biggest growth in contest, beautiful connection, you’ve showed anything is possible.’

While Shirley added: ‘I’m getting choked up. Your rise and fall was beautiful, just where it needed to be for a semi-final.’

Karen later joined fellow contestants and host Claudia backstage as she reflected on her emotional reaction.

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Elsewhere in the show, Karen Carney broke down in tears after her moving performance (L-R Tess Daly, Karen, and Carlos Gu)

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The former footballer, 38, and her professional partner Carlos Gu, 32, took to the dancefloor and wowed the audience and judges with a waltz to Whitney Houston’s hit One Moment In Time

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The pair scored an impressive 39 points from the judges, catapulting them to the top of the leaderboard at the beginning of the show

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Carlos and Karen then returned to the dancefloor to perform a salsa to Vicki Sue Robinson’s Turn the Beat Around

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The duo earned an impressive 39 points from the judges, keeping them at the top of the leaderboard, just one point ahead of Amber

Explaining why she was so overwhelmed, she said: ‘It’s because I let loose, I let go, I leaned into him,

She continued: ‘I’ve always done in this competition, I’ve always felt so safe with him, but today I was like just go out there and just enjoy it and lean into him it’s just me and him.

‘When I connect with him there’s no better feeling, he made me emotional, saw him kind of wobbling, and then I was going, and I was like this feels so nice and I wanna thank the costume team because they’ve made me feel beautiful.’

Following the performance, fans flocked to X, formerly Twitter, to share their verdict on Karen’s chances of winning the competition.

One wrote: ‘KAREN CARNEY AND CARLOS GU MY 2025 STRICTLY WINNERS YES YES YES.’

‘Karen Carney has won the glitterball with that waltz.’; ‘KAREN CARNEY that was incredible.’

‘Karen Carney has to win this, I love her.’; ‘Oh Karen Carney I think you’ve just secured yourself the win.’

Carlos and Karen then returned to the dancefloor to perform a salsa to Vicki Sue Robinson’s Turn the Beat Around.

The duo earned an impressive 39 points from the judges, keeping them at the top of the leaderboard, just one point ahead of Amber.