Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden has opened up about her cancer battle and ‘big decisions’ for the future, after she was told she was in remission
Christopher Sharp Trendswatch Reporter
15:29, 30 Oct 2025
Amy Dowden has given an update on her health(Image: ITV)
Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden has provided an update on her cancer journey following some recent health concerns.
Amy, 35, featured on The Dr Hilary Show podcast, where she expressed her relief at being in remission, but revealed that medical staff had recently discovered “specks on my other breast”.
In recent years, Amy has been candid about her breast cancer battle after being diagnosed in May 2023, when she was just 32. The diagnosis meant she had to withdraw from that year’s Strictly series, and she subsequently underwent both chemotherapy and a mastectomy.
Since then, Amy has inspired thousands of people through her breast cancer fight.
Speaking to Dr Hilary about her health, Amy said: “Touch wood, no evidence of disease. I’ve had some scares with specks on the breast, on my other breast which has not been pleasant.
“I’ve had more biopsies done on that breast….There is breast cancer in the family, so big decisions need to be made now, in the future. I’m in very, very good hands.”
Amy Dowden(Image: BBC)
Beyond discussing the disease’s impact, Amy has also addressed the pressure and “strain” she placed on herself to return to dancing.
During an earlier appearance on the Breast Cancer Uncovered podcast, Amy, who also lives with Crohn’s disease, discussed her determination to resume her life as quickly as possible.
Amy said: “When I was told I needed a mastectomy, I straight away said, ‘can I have both off?’ What I didn’t want was to get back on with my life and for [the cancer] to come back in the other breast, I didn’t want to come back and deal with it. I wanted to get on with my life.”
Amy Dowden(Image: Getty Images for BAFTA)
Amy also spoke about the sudden jolt of seeing her diary emptied due to the illness, and coming to terms with the fact that getting better would take far longer than anticipated.
She explained: “All of a sudden my diary was blank because I was cancelling dance shows, I was cancelling up and coming work. And I didn’t know, was I going to be dancing again?
“Was I going to be working again? It was a very scary time and you don’t know when you are going to get back to full health. There is no guarantee you will.
“For me, if somebody who had such a full-on loaded diary to all of a sudden then to be cancelling everything and not know when your life was going to resume was, for me particularly, really tough.
“I thought that was it. Life was going to resume. I didn’t realise that hard slog then of recovery and how long that actually took.”
Amy managed to bounce back and take part in the current series of Strictly. However, she and her celebrity dance partner Thomas Skinner became the first pair to leave in week two of the programme.
