Amy Dowden has said it will be “tough” watching JB Gill perform without her this weekend. The Strictly Come Dancing professional, 34, was replaced by Lauren Oakley in the BBC dance competition after being rushed to hospital with a shin fracture on 2 November. Gill’s performance on Saturday, 9 November, will coincide with the one year anniversary of Dowden finishing chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, which kept her from the Strictly stage for a year.
Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine , Dowden revealed she had planned a special Strictly performance with Gill to celebrate her anniversary and is devastated it can no longer take place. “Saturday is going to be tough because I really wanted to be dancing on that floor to show myself how far I’ve come in one year,” she said. The professional dancer explained she had wanted to dance the samba with her celebrity partner because she felt the “joyful carnival happy dance” was perfect to mark the occasion.
In May 2023, Dowden was diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of stage three breast cancer after finding a lump in her breast the day before her Maldives honeymoon with fellow professional dancer Ben Jones . She underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy and fertility treatment in those nine months and was eventually told she had “no evidence of disease” in February 2024. Elsewhere in her chat with Lorraine Kelly, Dowden said:“I am going to do my best not to cry,” as tears filled her eyes.
“I am gutted it’s ha.