Amber Davies’ Legally Blonde understudy, Hannah Lowther, has denied claims of a ‘brewing feud’ with the star, admitting she finds it ‘exhausting’ being constantly pitted against her.
Strictly star Amber, 29, was forced to pull out of Legally Blonde: The Musical mid-show for the foreseeable after falling ill.
Admitting she is suffering from burnout, the star departed the stage and role as leading lady Elle Woods which was taken over by understudy Hannah.
Italia Conti Academy-trained Hannah, who is a TikTok favourite with 1.3m followers, is said to have simmering tensions behind the scenes, with peers believing Hannah to be ‘a million times better’, as revealed by Daily Mail+’s Olivia Kemp earlier this week.
Now, Hannah has taken to Instagram to squash any rumours of a feud, with Amber shortly afterwards showing her support in the comments.
Sharing a clip of herself pinning her hair ahead of a performance, Hannah captioned the video: ‘One day I hope that we will be able to live in a world where women aren’t pit against each other and compared ALL the time…
Amber Davies’ Legally Blonde understudy, Hannah Lowther, has denied she’s feuding with the star on Instagram on Friday, admitting she finds it ‘exhausting’ being pitted against her
Strictly star Amber, 29, was recently forced to pull out of performing in Legally Blonde: The Musical mid-show after falling ill, and her role as leading lady Elle Woods has been taken over by understudy Hannah for the foreseeable
She continued: ‘A world where we can all succeed, thrive or just simply exist without people trying to tear us down.’
Alongside the clip, she added: ‘Exhausting actually…please be kind’, alongside a love-heart emoji.
Following her post, Amber quickly showed her support for her understudy, commenting: ‘We’ve got each other always’, alongside a love heart emoji.
It comes after Amber gave fans a health update this week, in which she confessed that her appearance in The Great Gatsby, her last-minute call-up to Strictly and her immediate start in Legally Blonde had affected her health.
Alongside a selfie, she penned two lengthy captions explaining that she was fending off illness and taking antibiotics, thus being off-stage indefinitely. However, she did not address the mid-stage departure or Hannah.
Fans swarmed TikTok to comment on Amber’s departure, while praising Hannah, who usually plays Margot, Elle’s friend, in the musical based on the 2001 film.
Keen to explain her absence to fans, Amber’s Instagram announcement read: ‘Ok update: After talking to my doctor, 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… This is the last thing I want but there’s no other way…
But Italia Conti Academy-trained Hannah, who is a TikTok favourite, is said to have simmering tensions behind the scenes, with peers believing Hannah to be ‘a million times better’ (pictured 2025)
Now, Hannah has taken to Instagram to squash any rumours of a ‘feud’, captioning a short video clip: ‘One day I hope that we will be able to live in a world where women aren’t pit against each other,’
Alongside the clip, she added: ‘Exhausting actually…please be kind’, alongside a love-heart emoji
Following her post, Amber quickly showed her support for her understudy, commenting: ‘We’ve got each other always’, alongside a love heart emoji
‘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!!! Thank you – Amber x’.
She continued in another post: ‘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.’
Fans took to TikTok to laud Hannah for stepping in, with an audience member sharing a clip from the show and writing: ‘Hannah Lowther went from Margot to Elle mid show in act 1 this afternoon! She’s a superhero!!!’
The user also penned a caption reading: ‘Unfortunately Amber Davies became unwell during the show today so Hannah Lowther had to switch from Margot to Elle! I love covers/swings/Alts’.
It comes after Insiders exclusively revealed to Mail+ that the growing attention surrounding Hannah’s performances has become difficult for the show’s cast to ignore.
The source said: ‘Everyone backstage is professional, but it would be fair to say the atmosphere between the two girls can be a bit tense at times. When an “alternate” starts getting that much praise online, it inevitably becomes a talking point.’
Last month, when Amber was ill and forced to miss several performances while on antibiotics, Hannah stepped in – and the reaction online was immediate and brutal.
‘Hannah’s energy is unmatched,’ commented one user, while another said: ‘Amber gives us nothing while Hannah gives us everything.’
Last month, Amber left audience members shocked when, during a public first preview performance, she was seen briefly losing track of the choreography and left looking across the stage at Hannah to copy her movements.
Within hours, the clip – filmed by an audience member – had circulated widely online, prompting Amber to address her fluffed routine in a TikTok video, describing the moment as ‘embarrassing’.
She explained: ‘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.’
