{"id":614609,"date":"2025-12-05T21:31:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T21:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/614609\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T21:31:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T21:31:24","slug":"amy-dowden-shares-health-update-as-bbc-strictly-star-makes-appearance-following-second-mastectomy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/614609\/","title":{"rendered":"Amy Dowden shares health update as BBC Strictly star makes appearance following second mastectomy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden has delivered an encouraging update on her health, revealing that her recovery from a second mastectomy is progressing well.<\/p>\n<p>The 35-year-old Welsh dancer appeared on Thursday&#8217;s edition of It Takes Two alongside fellow professional Katya Jones for the show&#8217;s Strictly Pro Challenge segment.<\/p>\n<p>Before the pair performed their routine for head judge Shirley Ballas, presenter Janette Manrara enquired about Ms Dowden&#8217;s wellbeing following her recent operation.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m feeling really well actually! Four weeks ago today, I had my surgery, and recovery is all going to plan,&#8221; she told viewers.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"f03d0\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"b26f3033fd32329f63477cf00cda8e49\" data-rm-shortcode-name=\"rebelmouse-image\" class=\"rm-shortcode rm-lazyloadable-image \" lazy-loadable=\"true\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20880%20649'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-runner-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/amy-dowden.png\" width=\"880\" height=\"649\" alt=\"Amy Dowden\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Amy Dowden shared an update following her surgery<\/p>\n<p> | <\/p>\n<p>BBC<\/p>\n<p>The studio audience responded with warm applause, while Ms Jones offered her colleague a compliment, telling her: &#8220;You look beautiful!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ms Dowden announced in November that she would be undergoing the second mastectomy, though she emphasised this was not the result of a fresh cancer diagnosis.<\/p>\n<p>The dancer first discovered she had breast cancer in May 2023 after finding a lump in her breast just one day before she was due to depart for her honeymoon.<\/p>\n<p>Her subsequent treatment proved gruelling, involving her initial mastectomy procedure alongside chemotherapy sessions.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"8d0f2\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"39c28cf2958398e3a8b5475874b74572\" data-rm-shortcode-name=\"rebelmouse-image\" class=\"rm-shortcode rm-lazyloadable-image \" lazy-loadable=\"true\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%204743%203162'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-runner-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/bbc-strictly-amy-dowden-and-thomas-skinner.jpg\" width=\"4743\" height=\"3162\" alt=\"BBC Strictly: Amy Dowden and Thomas Skinner\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Amy Dowden and Thomas Skinner left the 2025 series after just two weeks<\/p>\n<p> |  BBC<\/p>\n<p>The illness forced her to miss that year&#8217;s Strictly Come Dancing series entirely.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Dowden&#8217;s medical ordeal extended beyond cancer treatment itself, as she also underwent fertility treatment and nearly lost her life to sepsis during this period.<\/p>\n<p>She received the all-clear from the disease in February 2024, enabling her return to the ballroom.<\/p>\n<p>The choreographer made her comeback to Strictly last year, partnering with JLS star JB Gill in a pairing that quickly won over audiences.<\/p>\n<p>                LATEST BBC STRICTLY DEVELOPMENTS<\/p>\n<p>        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"193f2\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"f426cfdc1f254a6a81ad6c63ff2df77e\" data-rm-shortcode-name=\"rebelmouse-image\" class=\"rm-shortcode rm-lazyloadable-image \" lazy-loadable=\"true\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20933%20680'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-runner-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764970284_23_amy-dowden.png\" width=\"933\" height=\"680\" alt=\"Amy Dowden\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Amy Dowden was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023<\/p>\n<p> | <\/p>\n<p>BBC<\/p>\n<p>However, an injury cut short her participation, forcing JB to continue the competition with Lauren Oakley instead.<\/p>\n<p>This current series brought further disappointment when Ms Dowden and her celebrity partner Thomas Skinner became the first couple to face elimination.<\/p>\n<p>In a moving message to the businessman, she expressed her gratitude for their time together.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Tom, you have truly helped bring me back, not just to the show, but to myself. Our training days have been filled with laughter and just enjoying the moment,&#8221; she wrote.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DRP4VeijOEB\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"\/>\n<p>She praised his dedication, noting: &#8220;Your work ethic, your heart, and your commitment the last few weeks has been 110%.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Despite her early departure from the competition, Ms Dowden has remained a visible presence throughout the series.<\/p>\n<p>Observant viewers have spotted the professional dancer in the Clauditorium and participating in various pre-recorded group routines.<\/p>\n<p>During her It Takes Two appearance, Ms Dowden admitted she lacked confidence ahead of the pro challenge, joking that fortune had not favoured her since 2022 &#8220;in all matters of life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, her performance earned top marks from Shirley Ballas, placing her at the summit of the leaderboard.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, the dancer shared a powerful reflection on social media, posting contrasting images from two years apart showing her transformation from a hospital bed during chemotherapy to her current healthy state.<\/p>\n<p>She credited her husband Ben and fellow professional Carlos Gu with helping prove that cancer had not taken away her dancing.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden has delivered an encouraging update on her health, revealing that her recovery&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3940],"tags":[192,4080,4781,77,512,1888,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-614609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-celebrity","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-sgg","13":"tag-strictly-come-dancing","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115669099186593047","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}