Amy Dowden reveals cancer diagnosis changed my life | | UK News
Amy Dowden says she now lives utterly different after cancer battle (Image: BBC)
Amy Dowden has revealed how dramatically her life has reworked following her cancer ordeal.
The Strictly Come Dancing skilled was identified with breast cancer in May 2023 after discovering a lump the day before jetting off on honeymoon with husband Benjamin Jones. She subsequently underwent a mastectomy and chemotherapy treatment following the diagnosis.
In February 2024, Amy announced that medical doctors had informed her there was ‘no evidence of disease’. Since then, the star, who is making her comeback to the BBC dancing competitors in September for her tenth sequence as a skilled, confessed to Radio Times that she now “lives life differently”.
Speaking to the publication, she revealed that Strictly helped to save her life. “It’s more than a show for me because it helped me get through the darkest days. A lot has happened to me in a decade, she said.” she said.
“From joining the show to getting married (to fellow dancer Ben Jones), to my cancer diagnosis, to getting back on the dance floor.”
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The dancer said Strictly received her ‘through the darkest days’ (Image: BBC)
Amy continued: “Dancing is, for sure, my saviour. In standing by me, the BBC gave me the hope and courage to get back to work. But not as the old me.
“I’m a new model of myself now – actually, I’ve a new higher physique. I am unable to be the same individual after all the things I’ve been through.”
She added: “I live life very otherwise because you just do not know what’s around the nook; I do not fear about the issues that I used to [worry about]. Every day is a privilege.”
Amy has been a mainstay on the hit BBC One dance programme since 2017, making history as the first Welsh dancer to join the beloved show.
Speaking about her Strictly comeback, which was confirmed alongside the judges and fellow professional dancers, Amy said: “Every 12 months it feels so surreal to me, as the first Welsh skilled dancer, to be half of the most magical show. I still get as excited as I did in my first 12 months.
Amy has been a fixture on the hit BBC One dance programme since 2017 (Image: Getty Images )
“But I’m also just so deeply grateful to the BBC for standing by me through everything, being patient, and being so supportive. And giving me these opportunities and they never lost hope in me.
“Does that make sense? I owe a lot to them. They never misplaced hope in me. Having that to work in the direction of saved me going on the hardest days.”
Opening up to the MEN ahead of her tour, Reborn, alongside reigning Strictly champion Carlos Gu, she continued: “Obviously, I’d love to get to Blackpool! But finally, it is about embracing it all and taking in every second and every alternative. I’m very fortunate to be half of this show.
“A cancer diagnosis teaches you that tomorrow is not promised, so you have to be present and enjoy every moment. Literally, after I got invited back this year, I told the producers, I just want to really soak it all up and make the most of every second.”
Strictly Come Dancing is due to return in September.
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