Copyright walesonline
After undergoing a brutal course of chemotherapy to shrink the grade III breast cancer she had discovered in 2023, Strictly Come Dancing favourite Amy Dowden was desperate to get back onto the dance floor the following year. Partnered with JLS singer JB Gill, Amy made a strong start in Strictly's 22nd season but collapsed backstage following the Halloween week show. Speaking to Dr Hilary Jones on The Dr Hilary Show podcast, Amy explained that she hadn't yet overcome the debilitating effects of chemo . "I probably rushed too soon to get back on the dance floor," she confessed. "My body hadn't fully recovered and healed. I thought it had, because every day when you're recovering from chemo, you feel stronger and better. "And I guess I didn't realise the full impact chemo has on your bones. I broke my foot three days after finishing chemotherapy. And then when I went back onto Strictly last year, I had a hairline fracture." X-rays revealed a "white mass" on one of the bones of Amy's foot. "I was just genuinely very unwell. And I just think with the hairline fracture during the show and the white mass on my bone and just feeling so unwell, I think it was my body screaming, 'This is too much.'" To Amy's immense disappointment, she was unfit to continue, and Lauren Oakley stepped in to complete JB's Strictly journey—which ended with a very creditable runner-up placing. "It was heartbreaking because I had to get pulled out of the competition," Amy recalled. "Lovely Lauren filled in and JB went on to make the finals. I was so proud. But it was also heartbreaking thinking that could have been me. "But," she added, "I guess I learnt the hard way there ... not to push myself, to pat myself on the back with all the little wins in recovery." Amy revealed that she has a habit of pushing herself even when unwell. Recalling the moment she discovered her breast cancer, she told Dr Hilary: "It was the day before I was going on my honeymoon, and I found a lump on my right breast, and I knew immediately my heart sank. "I don't know," she added, "I just had an awful gut feeling. I still went on the honeymoon." She said that she tried to ignore the lump and just enjoy her holiday, but felt as if it grew every time she applied sun lotion to the area. Amy admitted that she was very tired and "generally unwell," but initially blamed her symptoms on the Crohn's Disease she had been living with since childhood. "I was just generally not like the healthiest," she said. "Obviously, this was all signs of the cancer. And now looking back, I had this terrible cough that I couldn't shift, and I tried antibiotics, steroids, everything." An examination by her GP led to an emergency referral for surgery. After a mastectomy and chemotherapy, she now hopes she is clear of the disease. Speaking to Dr Hilary about her health, Amy said: "Touch wood, no evidence of disease. I've had some scares with specks on the other breast, which has not been pleasant. I've had more biopsies done on that breast.... There is breast cancer in the family, so big decisions need to be made now and in the future. I'm in very, very good hands."
