AMY'S BATTLE
Who is Amy Dowden and what type of cancer did the Strictly Come Dancing professional have?
Plus, all the info about Amy's courageous doc about her treatments and recovery
AMY Dowden will be back on Strictly in 2024 after cancer prevented her from appearing on the show the previous year.
Here we take a look at what type of cancer she had, as well as how many diagnoses of the disease Amy suffered.
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Who is Amy Dowden?
Amy Dowden was born on August 10, 1990, in Caerphilly, Wales.
She is a professional Latin American and ballroom dancer who studied her craft at the Royal Academy of Dance.
Amy’s best known for being a dancer on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing.
She joined in 2017 and reached the final with CBBC presenter Karim Zeroual in 2019.
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Amy’s gone on to feature in numerous TV projects, including her own show Amy Dowden’s Dare To Dance, which premiered on BBC One Wales and iPlayer in March 2024.
The with series aims to help people achieve their dance floor dreams.
She's also written a book, Dancing In The Rain, published on September 5, 2024.
It tells her “deeply personal story” of overcoming adversity, including her battles with Crohn’s disease and breast cancer.
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She married her pro dance partner Ben Jones on July 3, 2022.
The couple also run the Art In Motion dance school in Cradley Heath, West Midlands.
What type of cancer did Amy Dowden have?
Amy' was first diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in May 2023.
Then just a couple of months later she was told she had another type of cancer, which was found elsewhere in the body.
Strictly’s Amy Dowden leaves fans ‘sobbing’ as ‘inspirational’ star details cancer battle in emotional documentary
The details of her second diagnosis have not been reported.
How many times has Amy Dowden had cancer?
Amy took more than a year to make a full recovery after doctors told her she had aggressive stage three breast cancer in May 2023.
Following undergoing a mastectomy, she was told the tumours had spread and was diagnosed with cancer for the second time in July of the same year.
And in August 2024, her return to Strictly was thrown into chaos when doctors raised concerns about abnormalities in her breast following a check-up.
When I had to tell Strictly [about the diagnosis], I was asking ‘Can I keep my job?’ because that was the scariest thing
Amy Dowden
Thankfully, Amy received the all-clear from her consultant.
As of September 3, 2024, her cancer is currently in remission.
Fighting the disease prevented Amy from dancing on Strictly in 2023, so she was elated to be given the all-clear to grace the dance floor again for the 2024 series.
What is Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me about?
Amy has charted her journey back from illness in a new hour-long documentary called Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me.
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TV cameras followed her throughout her treatments, even while she underwent a mastectomy and received chemotherapy.
In the film, it's clear that getting back to Strictly was Amy’s main focus.
Amy revealed: “When I had to tell Strictly, I was asking ‘Can I keep my job?’ because that was the scariest thing.
“To dance at the highest level, you have to be as fit as an athlete.
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“I was scared about how treatment would affect my body.
“The doctor told me I was going to need really strong chemo every two weeks, and I needed eight sessions.
“Then I knew that was it — I wasn’t going to be able to dance for months.
“I was gutted. It completely wiped me out for Strictly.
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“I was heartbroken because I wanted to be on the dance floor.”
And just hours before her mastectomy, she said: “I have three weeks of resting, going back to my day to day, then six weeks before I can get back to dancing.”
Amy was also concerned about how Strictly’s wardrobe team might help her back into her show costumes following the rebuilding of one of her breasts.
At one point in the doc Amy tells show co-star Dianne Buswell: “Everything has been so fast.
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“Literally two weeks from surgery and we’re straight into that whirlwind of emotions, we’re into surgery and accepting a new boob.
“The anxiety I feel is that it’s all happened really quickly.
“I didn’t know what structure we can do with my breast. I didn’t look at my breast for two weeks.
“I had to do it with the nurse, and I was really scared, because what if you don’t like it?"
To which Dianne says: “As dancers, our appearance is a big thing for us — since we’re little we’re so aware of it — so anything that happens physically to our bodies, it plays a mental role.”
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On top of everything, Amy revealed she was devastated when her planned Strictly comeback was once again delayed by yet another health concern.
She was due to return to the show for the iconic Blackpool Ballroom in November 2023, having missed the series due to her cancer diagnosis.
But she broke her foot in the run-up to the show, before posting on Instagram: "Not the week I was hoping for since finishing chemo.
"Port out but unfortunately gained a boot for a fractured foot.
"Absolutely gutted and heartbroken as this means the plans for me to dance in the Strictly Ballroom this year are no longer possible.
"This is what has kept me going the past few months.
"2023 is certainly not my year, roll on 2024 I say!
"#noluck #nyluckwillsoonchange #mycancerjourney #brokenfoot #fracture #heartbroken #gutted #rollon2024"
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The doc was first broadcast on BBC One on Monday, August 26, 2024 at 8pm, and was then repeated on BBC Three on Friday, August 30.
Fear not if you missed it, the film is also available on iPlayer for a year from the time it was first broadcast.
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