Strictly’s Amy Dowden was ‘ready to hang up dancing shoes’ after cancer surgery

Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden has spoken about how she was “ready to hang up my dancing shoes” after receiving treatment for breast cancer.

Dowden, who has been a professional dancer on the BBC show since 2017, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023.

In an interview with former Busted star Matt Willis on his podcast On The Mend, Dowden discussed having to take time off the show while she had chemotherapy and underwent two mastectomies.

Dowden said that when she returned, “I’d lost everything as a dancer, my flexibility, my speed – everything I worked 20 years for”.

She said she was grateful for all the support she had received from her colleagues on the show, particularly fellow professional dancer Carlos Gu.

“My body had been through everything so I knew I wasn’t who I was, and I was ready to hang up my dancing shoes and my husband and my dear friend, Carlos Gu, who went on to win Strictly, said ‘no’,” she said.

“‘Cancer’s taken so much, it’s not taking your dancing back. You can do this’.”

Dowden said that her love for dancing on the show motivated her to get better.

She said: “I also knew how much I loved dance, and that spark, and the joy it was giving my family again, and the joy it gave me, so I knew that I’ve got to process everything I’ve been through and get myself as fit and strong and as happy as I possibly can be, to be back truly loving what I love most.

“And I worked so hard on that last year, and I got to go out on tour reborn.”

Dowden, who was the first Welsh professional dancer on the show, said being partnered with former McFly lead singer Tom Fletcher in the 2021 series had saved her life, as he had introduced her to the work his wife Giovanna did with breast cancer awareness charity CoppaFeel.

She told former Busted singer and bassist Willis: “I have to admit, I’m going to have to be team McFly, because if it wasn’t for Tom Fletcher, I wouldn’t be alive.”

Dowden said she would be going back on tour this year with Gu, “who was there throughout it all”.

“Fingers crossed, I don’t know yet, I’ll be returning to the Strictly dance floor, but at the same time, I’ll be doing all I can to help others raise awareness for breast cancer,” she said.

“I still have treatment once a month on the oncology unit. I still must have a monthly injection, but it’s keeping me alive and that’s how I see it.”

The On The Mend With Matt Willis podcast is available now.