Amy Dowden’s four-word Strictly retirement admission after cancer treatment

Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden has opened up about her breast cancer treatment in a new interview.

Strictly star Amy Dowden on the On The Mend With Matt Willis podcast

The professional dancer was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023 (On the Mend With Matt Willis/PA) (Image: undefined)

Strictly Come Dancing’s Amy Dowden has opened up about how she was “ready to hang up my dancing shoes” following her treatment for breast cancer. Dowden, a professional dancer on the BBC programme since 2017, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023. Speaking to former Busted member Matt Willis on his podcast On The Mend, Dowden shared her experience of taking a break from the show to undergo chemotherapy and two mastectomies. Upon her return, she confessed, “I’d lost everything as a dancer, my flexibility, my speed – everything I worked 20 years for”. She expressed gratitude for the support she received from her Strictly colleagues, particularly fellow professional dancer Carlos Gu.

Amy Dowden after being made an MBE last year

Amy Dowden was made an MBE last year (Jonathan Brady/PA) (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

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

Dowden admitted that her passion for dancing on the show inspired her recovery.

She explained: “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, the first Welsh professional dancer on the show, credited her partnership with former McFly frontman Tom Fletcher in the 2021 series as life-saving, due to his introduction to the work his wife, Giovanna, does with breast cancer awareness charity CoppaFeel.

Speaking to former Busted singer and bassist Willis, she confessed: “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 revealed she would be returning to 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 declared.

“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.”