INTERVIEW
Fan-favourite pro Amy Dowden on how her new show has kept her positive amid her ongoing battle with cancer
She rose to fame as the bubbly and beautiful Welsh pro dancer on Strictly – but more recently, Amy Dowden has made headlines after a heartbreaking cancer diagnosis and has been lauded by fans for her strength and resilience as she battles through it.
Amy, 33, has had a roller-coaster two years –just 10 months after the high of tying the knot with her long-term partner, Ben Jones, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was forced to pull out of the 2023 Strictly series and in the past year she’s endured a mastectomy, chemotherapy, losing her hair, a sepsis battle and in November she broke her foot –the week before she was set to make a special comeback performance on Strictly.
But despite her devastating health issues, Amy has been more positive than ever, updating fans on her battle and busying herself with filming for series two of her TV show Dare To Dance –which sees Amy teaching would-be performers lacking the confidence to give dancing a go.
And she now reveals how her co-stars –including Dianne Buswell, Carlos Gu, Graziano di Prima and Oti Mabuse –have been there for her off the dance floor by appearing on the series, saying, “We started filming the show and unfortunately I had my diagnosis, but I was eager to continue and the incredible production team were very supportive of that. And I called upon half of my fellow Strictly pros Dianne, Carlos Gu, Graziano, Oti, and they came in and helped. They were brilliant!”
HAPPY DISTRACTION
She adds that filming for the show was a happy distraction for her, saying, “I literally had two weeks off for my mastectomy, and then we got it all filmed between my mastectomy and starting chemotherapy. So, for me, it was a tonic I needed. It was this distraction.
“When I went in to dance, into the training room or dancing room, it was like my professional head was on. It was my normality. If I’d had that taken away from me, I think I would have really struggled.”
On the show, viewers will see Amy teach members of the public to dance. And reveals she formed a “special connection” with a woman called Debbie, who had cancer too. “I was teaching her to dance, but she was also teaching me resilience,” she says.
Amy even coached Debbie and her partner for their wedding dance, and attended their special day. “It was so emotional… definitely a day I’ll never forget.”
And amid reports that 2023 contestant Amanda Abbington was diagnosed with Post Traumatic
