Amy Dowden has made her feelings about the Strictly scandals clear, delivering a blunt four-word response: "I don't get caught up." Although a llegations against pro dancers Giovanni Pernice and Graziano di Prima have dominated headlines in recent weeks, Amy is firmly focused on excelling on the dancefloor after beating stage three breast cancer. “When you’ve been through what I’ve been through, you realise what’s important and what to focus on," she explained.
"I just focus on the present and concentrate on my steps.” It had at first been unclear whether the talented pro would return, after the devastating bombshell was dropped about her cancer diagnosis, so even just being back on viewers' screens again is a "gift" for her - and it overshadows all the negativity. The "buzzing star" has now revealed in a new interview that the show "ultimately saved my life".
It's not just her triumphant return that she's referring to, either: Amy had assumed cancer would never happen to her at just 32, until a chance walk with her Strictly partner's wife. After pairing up with McFly's Tom Fletcher in 2021 - a duo that instantly became hugely popular - she later joined his wife Giovanna on a walk for the cancer charity Coppafeel. It suddenly occurred to Amy that while she was urging other women to check their breasts, and campaigning to raise awareness for the disease, she hadn't been checking her own.
Thinking that she'd be a "hypocrite" if she didn't do it too, Amy started regularly checking - and just a few months later, she found a lump. The heartbroken star felt she'd had a "double stab in the gut" when she was told she'd have to be put into early menopause - potentially to save her life. She was advised to get her eggs frozen if she had any future fertility plans, so that action could be taken to prevent the cancer feeding off her body's estrogen supply.
Amy's world came "crashing down" when she discovered she'd have to be "pumped with a load of hormones", followed by going into menopause on the very day she started chemotherapy. “I didn’t think I would get breast cancer. I was 32 years old.
I was a physically fit dancer on Strictly, I’d just got married...
Mammograms don’t start until you’re in your 50s!" she explained to the Radio Times. However, she found ways to maintain a sense of control during treatment and felt "empowered" when she shaved her head so she'd no longer have to bear the pain of her hair gradually falling out. Eventually, she decided to pluck up the coverage to appear publicly with her bald head, admitting: "That evening on Strictly felt very liberating.
It didn’t matter and I didn’t have to hide away any more.” Now, she's beaten cancer and will be aiming for this year's Strictly trophy, exclaiming: "I’m back doing what I love..
. I’m going to have a smile on my face the whole time.” Read more at: https://www.
radiotimes.com/tv/documentaries/amy-dowden-cancer-and-me/.
