Amy Dowden details new cancer scare ahead of Strictly Come Dancing return

Dowden receives worrying news from her doctor, in footage seen in new documentary ‘Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me’

Amy Dowden has revealed that her Strictly Come Dancing return was thrown into uncertainty when she had another cancer scare in recent months.

In May 2023, the Welsh professional dancer was diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of stage three breast cancer 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.

That journey is documented in a new film, Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me, which follows Dowden from the beginning of her diagnosis as she navigates each stage of her treatment.

However, at the end of the documentary, when Dowden finds out she will be well enough to return to Strictly in September after a year off from work, she goes to the hospital for a routine MRI scan and receives worrying news from her doctor.

In footage recorded exclusively for the documentary, doctors tell Dowden they have detected “a few little dots” in the scan that suggest calcification and a “change occurring in the breast”. Her doctor warned her it could be a sign of breast cancer returning.

Dowden, who took the news in her stride, then underwent a biopsy, and told the cameras afterwards: “I’m feeling really anxious and worried because it obviously brought back memories of everything I went through a year ago.”

The BBC started recording the documentary just six days after Dowden received her diagnosis (BBC/Wildflame Productions)

“But I’ve just gotta try and remain positive and not take myself to those worrying places.”

In the next clip, Dowden and her husband Ben are given the welcome news that the biopsy showed benign changes – there was no cancer detected.

“When the consultant told us there was no evidence of disease, it felt surreal,” Dowden exclaimed. “I’m so relieved. It feels like I’m set free.”

In another clip, Dowden’s mother told the camera: “We just want to dance and sing and tell everyone about it.”

Reflecting on the hardest year of her life, Downden said: “In the past year, I’ve had a mastectomy, fertility treatment, chemotherapy, sepsis, blood clots, a broken foot and finally it’s time for me to get back on that dancefloor.”

Amy Dowden with cold cap on while undergoing chemotherapy treatment in 2023 (BBC/Wildflame Productions)

The dancer, who first joined the cast of Strictly in 2017, was too ill to compete in last year’s series of the show, but would regularly make surprise appearances on the show – like the time she arrived in a sparkly gown and read out the terms and conditions for the public voting.

When Dowden’s name was announced in the 2024 line-up for Strictly, she celebrated the news and told her fans that she could not wait to be back doing what she loves the most: dancing.

‘Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me’ follows Dowden through every stage of her breast cancer treatment (BBC/Wildfire Productions/Sam Lumley)

“My heart is so happy,” she wrote. “The best team on and off the dance floor. Feel blessed and more excited than ever. Bring it on!”

Professional dancer Vito Coppola, who will also dance in this year’s competition, wrote on Instagram about how much the Strictly cast had “missed” Dowden in the previous season.

“Beautiful Amy we are so happy to have you back. We have missed you. Be ready because I am going to lift you very high,” he said. “We love you and I am sure I can speak for all us when I say that it was not same without you.”

Dowden’s friend and fellow Strictly pro Diane Buswell said she was “so happy” to have the dancer back on the dancefloor where she “belongs”.

Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me airs on BBC One on Monday 26 August at 8pm. She will appear in this year’s 20th anniversary series of Strictly Come Dancing.