Amy Dowden has revealed she almost quit Strictly Come Dancing after her cancer battle.
The professional dancer recently returned to the BBC ballroom in the 2024 series, where she was partnered with The Apprentice star Thomas Skinner before being forced to withdraw.
Ms Dowden said she was ready to step away from the show following a mastectomy, despite being cancer-free at the time.
Strictly star Amy Dowden almost quit show after cancer battle
"I’d been pulled out of Strictly and I was ready to hang up my dancing shoes," she told The Mirror.
She credits her husband Ben and fellow dancer Carlos Gu with convincing her to keep going.
Ms Dowden said: "It was Carlos [Gu] and Ben, my husband, who gave me that tough love, that motivation to make sure I didn’t.
"If it wasn’t for them, I truly was gonna hang up my dancing shoes.
"It was only then I really knew how low I was in my life.
"I was at an ultimate low."
She was first diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in May 2023 and later discovered a second type of cancer.
In August 2024, a health scare threatened her return to Strictly, but doctors ultimately gave her the all-clear.
Ms Dowden was then paired with Mr Skinner on the show, but after he was eliminated, she withdrew from group routines and the live final.
She is now one of several returning professionals for the upcoming series.
Dianne Buswell, Kai Widdrington, Carlos Gu, and Julian Caillon will also return.
Other returning dancers include Katya Jones, Jowita Przystal, Aljaž Škorjanec, Lauren Oakley, Nancy Xu, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Alexis Warr and Vito Coppola.
New Strictly professionals joining BBC show
The continuing pros will be joined by five new faces joining the cast this year.
Coming from a range of backgrounds and countries, the BBC has said that they are some of the most exciting talents in dance today.
The first is Maddie Ingoldsby from Bournemouth, who is a UK National Ballroom Champion and eight-time Amateur 10-Dance World Champion.
Next is Aleksandra Isaeva, a multiple Ukrainian National Latin Champion currently living in Italy.
Her dance partner, Cristian Priori, is also joining the show and is a four-time Italian Latin Champion.
Undefeated South African Latin Champion Lethabo Monametsi also joins the line-up.
Two-time National Latin Champion in his native country, Canada, Mark Karmalita rounds out the newcomers.
Sarah James, executive producer at BBC Studios, said: "Aleksandra, Cristian, Lethabo, Maddie and Mark are all outstanding world-class dancers and we can’t wait to see them shine under the Strictly glitterball this September."
Strictly Come Dancing is due to return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this September.
Will you be watching the new series of Strictly? Let us know in the comments.
Share