LOVE Island beauty Amber Davies has never been short of male attention but after landing her second West End lead role even A-list suitors are wasting their time.
In fact, it was superstar Dolly Parton who first warned the 23-year-old to avoid men after she won her first major role in musical 9 To 5.
The country icon, who wrote the music for the hit stage show, dished out the advice after inviting Amber to the US to meet her.
Despite previously being linked to stars including Liam Payne, Amber insists the only male in her life is her Jack Russell poodle cross puppy Oreo and that she’s “too cold” to respond to the countless men who message her on social media.
Amber tells me: “I’m still a party girl at heart, but I’ve realised it’s not my time for a man.
“I honestly don’t know what I’d do with one at the moment.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to pick up roles in the West End and I hope that’s going to be a platform for more acting, so my mentality has had to change.
“It was actually Dolly Parton who first gave me the advice.
“I always thought I’d be settling down by now, but I went out to meet her and she warned me to avoid the temptation of romance for now and focus on my career.
“She said, ‘Career first, men can wait for you’, and it turns out she was completely right.
“I’ve been able to get my first steps towards my dream and I’m determined than nothing will get in the way of that. The only man in my life now is my dog.”
Amber is isolating with Oreo in the home she moved into in January. She has ditched fake tan, make-up and hair-styling in favour of a stripped-back look, which her mum “much prefers”.
And the addition of Oreo means she swapped nightclubs for nights in long before the coronavirus crisis took hold.
Amber says: “I had no bedtime before I got a dog. I could go out whenever I wanted for as long as I wanted, but now I have to be home by 12. That’s been good for me.
“I’ve realised that I don’t miss out on much by being the first to head home.
“I don’t get the beer fear — worrying about what I might have said or done! Getting the dog has helped me grow up.”
On ditching men for the time being, she added: “I still get messages from guys online, some I might know and others not, but I’m so cold I don’t even respond. I’ve got to the point where I can’t even be bothered to chat to a guy.”
Amber is set to star in a stage version of American cheerleading rom-com Bring It On, alongside top gymnast Louis Smith.
Rehearsals are on hold until the lockdown is over, but she will be taking a course in cheerleading. And she hopes her latest stint as a leading lady could lead to a future TV role.
She adds: “Being in 9 To 5 was amazing and I had two other leading ladies next to me — it was real girl power.
“This next step is a new challenge because I’m leading the show and eyes are going to be all on me. But it’s an empowering female-friendly show too.
“Years ago cheerleading was all about sexy women at the side of a football pitch. Now it’s a very respected sport — you need real strength and skill.”
Amber first found fame on Love Island in 2017, when she and then boyfriend Kem Cetinay were crowned the winners. Their romance ended a year later.
While she has no regrets, Amber hopes she will soon be known for shows other than Love Island.
She explains: “Love Island gave me this amazing platform, but I have moved on.
“The Love Island bubble is still there, but slowly it will be forgotten, and hopefully my credit as a West End star will be what I’m known for in the future.
“Hopefully it leads to other things. A lot of people have moved on to films, TV.
“I’m focused at the moment. But the party animal is still there. It’ll come out again.”
No men in mix for Jesy
THEIR new track Break Up Song went down a treat with fans, and Jesy Nelson has revealed Little Mix’s follow-up single is another girl-power anthem.
The star, who recently split with Love Island’s Chris Hughes, said of the new track: “It’s about being empowered as a woman and not needing a man.”
During a Q and A with her fans, Jesy also teased a possible collaboration with one of my favourite pop stars Anne Marie.
Jesy revealed she’d made a WhatsApp group called “Fifth Member” with Anne-Marie and bandmates Jade Thirlwall, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Perrie Edwards.
She said: “Anne-Marie we absolutely love, she’s our girl. We definitely want to work with her. If it happens, which fingers crossed it will, I think it will be one of our best collaborations.”
And Anne-Marie is not the only singer the group have their eyes on.
Jesy said she was keen to get together some of pop’s most powerful women to create the 2001 version of Lady Marmalade. She explained: “We’ve always wanted to do a female empowerment song but with lots of other girl artists.
“So I personally would love to create a Lady Marmalade with new people.”
Kanye battles the bottle
KANYE West has revealed in a candid new interview that he has been battling alcoholism.
The rapper, who is married to reality star Kim Kardashian, said he realised he had an issue when he started drinking vodka during the day.
Speaking to GQ Magazine, Kanye said: “One day I was in my office working on the couture collection, and there was some Grey Goose in the fridge and I was just going to get a daytime drink.
“I looked and thought, ‘Devil, you’re not going to beat me today’.
“I haven’t had a drink since I realised I needed to take it day by day, but I never owned up or was even told, ‘Hey, you’re a functioning alcoholic’.
“People have called me a crazy person, people have called me everything – but not a functioning alcoholic.
“And I would be drinking orange juice and Grey Goose in the morning.”
Kanye also explained that the pressure of going to award ceremonies contributed to his booze habit.
At the MTV VMAS in 2009 – infamous for the moment he charged on stage to interrupt Taylor Swift’s Best Female Video acceptance speech to claim Beyonce was the more deserving winner – Kanye arrived at the show with a bottle of Hennessy brandy, which he downed through-out the night.
He explained: “I really grabbed the drink to be able to even go to the awards show due to the information that everyone knows now.
“To say, ‘OK, I can handle this’.”
- GOT a story? Ring HOAR on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or email [email protected].
