Amber Davies “feared” having sex on ‘Love Island’ would have a “negative impact” on her career outside of the villa.
The reality star is currently starring in Dolly Parton’s West End comedy musical ‘9 to 5’, and feels “relieved” to have secured the role after she worried that her stint on the ITV2 reality show ‘Love Island’ in 2017 could cause problems for her career, especially after she bedded then-boyfriend Kem Cetinay on screen.
She said:
“I had a lot to prove and, yes, I feared having sex on TV could have a negative impact on my acting career. My aim has been for people to stop thinking of me as Amber from ‘Love Island’.
“I was only 20 and I’ve realised now I had a lot of growing up to do – and I have done. People ask me if I just did ‘Love Island’ as a fast track to the top. That wasn’t the case. I went for it on a whim. But I’ve put the hours in since and worked so hard to change people’s perception. So it’s a relief it has paid off.”
The 22-year-old beauty – who won ‘Love Island’ with Kem, but split from him at the end of 2017 – has received rave reviews for her performance in ‘9 to 5’, and could be on the way to bigger West End roles or TV appearances following the show’s success.
She added:
“The 9 To 5 reviews have been amazing and the reaction from everyone has been that they’ve been pleasantly surprised. I can’t believe really senior people in the business have now been approaching me.”
And in the future, Amber would love to see herself starring in a Broadway production, as well as wanting to tackle shows like ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and ‘Dancing on Ice’.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre TV column, she said:
“One of my goals is Broadway but I’m only 22 and Rome wasn’t built in a day. I’m also interested in TV work. I’m interested in other musicals and there’s reality shows I want to tick off, like ‘Dancing On Ice’ and ‘Strictly’.
“But I value what I’ve got. I appreciate what ‘Love Island’ did for me. It gave me a wake-up and I’ve had to grow up. I’ve clued up.
“Coming into this industry, you have to have your head screwed on. You can’t trust everyone, only those closest to you because some people are out to get you. It would have been easy to make money fast. We’ve turned down offers for stuff that was easy money but wasn’t right for the long term.
“That’s sometimes hard to do — but I’m giving this everything.”