Strictly's Amy Dowden on learning 'the hard way' after cancer battle and show exit

Following a gruelling course of chemotherapy to combat the grade III breast cancer diagnosed in 2023, Strictly Come Dancing favourite Amy Dowden was determined to return to the dance floor the following year.

Paired with JLS singer JB Gill, Amy began Strictly's 22nd series strongly but collapsed backstage after the Halloween week performance. In conversation with Dr Hilary Jones on The Dr Hilary Show podcast, she revealed that she hadn't fully recovered from the devastating effects of chemotherapy.

"I probably rushed too soon to get back on the dance floor," she admitted. "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."

Scans showed a "white mass" on one of the bones in 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 tremendous disappointment, she was unable to continue, and Lauren Oakley took over to complete JB's Strictly journey-which concluded with a highly respectable runner-up finish.

"It was heartbreaking because I had to be pulled out of the competition," Amy confessed.

"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 ... not to push myself, and to pat myself on the back for all the little wins in recovery."

Amy revealed that she tends to push herself even when feeling unwell. Reflecting on 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. 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 explained that she tried to ignore the lump and simply enjoy her holiday, but felt as though it grew each time she applied sunscreen to the area.

Amy confessed that she was extremely tired and "generally unwell," but initially attributed her symptoms to the Crohn's disease she had been living with since childhood.

"I was just generally not the healthiest," she said. "Obviously, these were all signs of the cancer. Looking back, I also 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 undergoing a mastectomy and chemotherapy, she now hopes she is clear of the disease.

Updating Dr Hilary on her health, Amy revealed: "Touch wood, no evidence of disease. I've had some scares with specks on my 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."