Amy Dowden will be back for the new series of Strictly Come Dancing - months after a breast cancer diagnosis at 32. The much-loved professional dancer had to take a break from the show last year when she found out she had stage three breast cancer, and has since undergone a mastectomy and chemotherapy. Earlier this year, it was confirmed Amy would be back on Strictly this year, and shared the exciting news with her fans and friends on social media.
She wrote at the time: "I’m so happy and grateful to be back on @bbcstrictly . MY HEART IS SO HAPPY. The best team on and off the dance floor.
I can’t wait to be back doing what I love most in the world , dancing! Feel blessed and more excited than EVER. Bring it on! Thank you @bbcstrictly for your support always. Eeeeeekkk #amysback #strictlycomedancing #letsdothis .
" In a new interview with The Mirror and other press, Amy admitted Strictly was her "saviour" and all she wanted was to be back on the stage. She described it as a reason to get herself out of bed every day. She said: "Strictly was my saviour kind of thing.
To push me through to get me back on that stage; that was the goal. I'm very goal driven; it's always been dancing - so I wanted to get on Strictly. That was a reason to push myself to get out of bed, to be able to go down to Strictly doing the treatment as well.
When I was getting through the bad days, knowing it was for Strictly, it just gave me that push that I needed. Otherwise you just feel like it's been a hamster wheel and you just need something to give you that push." During her chemotherapy, Amy was unable to teach dance, but was desperate for some "normality" in her life.
"I wasn't able to teach, unfortunately, doing chemo because of the risk of infection. But I did right up to chemo and then after chemo obviously went back. So for me, I needed to have some normality in my life, to take me out of being a cancer patient.
I just didn't feel like Amy whatsoever. So I need a glimpse of normality. I really, really needed it because I was mentally struggling," she explained.
*Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me will air on BBC One on Monday August 26th at 8pm. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads ..
