Strictly's Lauren Oakley quits social media as she makes plea to fans ahead of live show

With just 24 hours to go until this year's Strictly Come Dancing live shows kick off, one professional dancer has announced she'll be deleting her social media for the foreseeable.

Lauren Oakley, who has been paired with professional football manager and former player Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, made the announcement that she'd be deleting her X account ahead of the new series.

The pro dancer was benched last year, until she stepped in for Amy Dowdenhalf way through the series, who unfortunately had to withdraw due to a foot injury. Lauren then stepped in to dance with JLS star JB Gill, with the pair making it all the way to the final.

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With the show airing live on BBC tomorrow evening, Lauren told fans 'not to be mean' as they watch along - revealing she'd be deleting her social media before taking to the stage.

Taking to her X, formerly known as Twitter account, Lauren said: "Live show tomorrow. That’s me deleting X for now, have fun everyone. Enjoy the show. Don’t be mean. Everyone has feelings and everyone is trying their best. Think before you type. Love."

Fans took to the comments to support the pro, as one penned: "Good luck to you and Jimmy - I am rooting for you as the couple to beat," while a second said: "All the best for this series, bab!"

"Good luck and I don’t blame you. Some comments get ridiculous!" a third exclaimed, while a fourth wrote: "Such a shame you feel you have to delete X but totally understandable. I hope you have a great series. I’m very much looking forward to watching everyone’s dancing journey."

Lauren's post comes just before the BBC show made the huge announcement that former Love Islander and West End star Amber Davies would be replacing Dani Dyer in the live shows.

Earlier this week, the show was thrown into chaos when Dani revealed she had to pull out due to an ankle injury.

Announcing the heartbreaking news, the mum of three said: "I had a fall on Friday in rehearsals and landed funny. I thought I had rolled my foot but it swelled up badly over the weekend and after an MRI scan yesterday, it turns out I have fractured my ankle.

"Apparently doing the quickstep on a fracture is not advisable (!!) and the doctors have said I am not allowed to dance so l’ve had to pull out of the show. To say I’m heartbroken is the biggest understatement. I am so going to miss dancing with Nikita but will of course be watching closely and cheering all the couples on."

This morning, last minute signing Amber said: "This has been the craziest 24 hours of my life. I've watched Strictly with my family since I was younger and to now be part of the show is a dream come true. I'm going to give it my all and I am sending Dani well wishes for a speedy recovery. I hope I do her proud."

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