By Daniel Windham

Copyright walesonline

Strictly Come Dancing has brought joy, sparkle and unforgettable performances to living rooms across the country for two decades. But behind the sequins and spray tans, many of the show’s stars have faced deeply personal health battles — some life-threatening, others lifelong. From cancer diagnoses to eating disorders, these challenges have shaped the journeys of the professionals and judges who step onto the BBC dancefloor each year. Here, we take a look at the struggles some of the Strictly family have faced away from the cameras. Professional dancer Amy Dowden’s career was put on hold in 2023 when she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. The news meant she had to step away from the Strictly ballroom and focus on treatment. She underwent a mastectomy and chemotherapy, and by February last year she was able to share the news that there was “no evidence of disease” after her bell-ringing ceremony in November, according to the Mirror . But the fight wasn’t over. Amy later spoke about the toll of medically induced menopause and fertility struggles, explaining how doctors warned her that treatment would trigger early menopause. Before starting chemotherapy, she chose to undergo egg retrieval in hopes of having children with her husband, Ben Jones, one day. While filming her BBC documentary Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me , she explained: “I had a hormone-fed cancer, so they needed to put me into menopause because my hormones were feeding the cancer. My whole body was feeding cancer. But also because I was having chemotherapy and as amazing as chemotherapy is, it destroys a lot of cells in your body. Your eggs, your ovaries, everything can be damaged and not necessarily reboot again.” Head judge Shirley Ballas has spent a lifetime bending and twisting on the dancefloor — and now, her body is reminding her of it. At 65, Shirley revealed she is living with a degenerative spinal condition that could eventually require surgery. Doctors have suggested several operations to ease the problem, but Shirley is determined to avoid going under the knife for as long as possible. Instead, she has embraced alternative lifestyle changes, including 5am ice baths, juicing, and cutting back on her workload. Speaking on Gabby Logan’s Mid-Point podcast, she shared: “I’ve got this disorder in my spine, degenerative spine, which I haven’t really talked about with anybody yet, but there’s three types of operations, and I don’t want to do the operations. So I’m doing anti-inflammatory, I’m trying to do more juicing, I’m ice-bathing.” She now regularly braves the freezing plunge: “I can go up to four minutes now, which I have built up to in the freezing, freezing cold, first thing at 5am. I would say it really stimulates me to start the day.” Strictly pro Dianne Buswell has spoken candidly about her past battle with an eating disorder — a struggle that once left her “terrified” to dance. Appearing on This Morning , she explained how obsessive thoughts around food and exercise began to consume her: “You wake up in the morning, and the first thing you think of is, what am I going to eat? How many calories are going to be in that? How much do I need to exercise to burn off those calories? It literally is like a planned thing in your mind that doesn’t go away. And that’s when you start to go, ‘Oh, this is a problem because I’m not thinking of anything else.'” She revealed that “weekly weigh-ins” as a young dancer only heightened her fears and shaped her unhealthy relationship with food. “I think it comes from when I was quite a young girl. And obviously growing up in the dance world, you’re taught to look a certain way and you see all these other beautiful girls dancing. You kind of want to look like that and want to be winning like they are. “And they look a certain way so I feel like I should look that way. So I think it was it was something from a really young age.” Dianne has since overcome her struggles and documented her experiences in Eating Disorders Don’t Discriminate , hoping to encourage others who may be suffering in silence. New contestant Vicky Pattison is preparing for the Strictly spotlight while managing a serious health condition that heightens her nerves far beyond the usual pre-show jitters. The TV star revealed in 2023 that she lives with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a condition that brings on panic attacks, anxiety, insomnia and exhaustion in the lead-up to her period. Despite the challenges, Vicky — who has previously triumphed on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! — is determined to embrace Strictly head-on. Speaking about the show, she admitted: “It’s so out of my comfort zone… I’m not a performer. I’m a drinker, not a dancer. It’s been a long time since I’ve done the jungle and MasterChef , but Strictly definitely ups the ante on the anxiety front.” On her PMDD, she explained: “It affects me in the 10 days before my period. That is panic attacks, anxiety, insomnia, exhaustion and in some moments, there can be suicidal thoughts. Like every woman dealing with it, I’m just riding the wave. “There are moments I can be OK and be the bright, shiny version of myself that everyone expects, and then there are moments where I’m debilitated by it. Now, everything feels heightened and stressful. I’ve been burying my head in the sand a little bit saying it’s ages away, but it’s not. I’m learning as I go. Strictly take things into -consideration.” Judge Craig Revel Horwood has been brutally honest about his lifelong struggles with body image. For more than 35 years, Craig lived with an eating disorder and body dysmorphic disorder — conditions he says left him insecure and, at times, dangerously unwell. In a 2008 Mail article, Craig described himself as a bullied “short and fat” child, insecurities that carried into adulthood. “When I studied myself in the mirror every morning and night, anything that wasn’t muscle I saw as fat. I was terribly insecure about my body and having my supposed flaws judged by others. “I disgusted myself and I also felt guilty about my behaviour. I was never happy with what I saw but that is what body dysmorphia and eating disorders do to you. I was paranoid about everything that passed my lips and as I’d cut out protein, my energy was low.” Years of restricting food took a toll on his body, affecting his skin, immune system and mood. But by 1997, Craig began to turn a corner, moving from dancing into directing and choreography — a change he believes saved his life. He later reflected that without this career shift, he “would have come close to dying.”