Strictly Come Dancing viewers were left in tears on Saturday night as Amy Dowden made her return to the show and struggled to hold back the waterworks herself.
The Welsh pro dancer has been missing from the 2023 series of the BBC dance competition as she has been battling the return of her cancer.
Amy, from Caerphilly in South Wales, shaved all her hair off a few weeks ago as she underwent chemotherapy.
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Amy Dowden joined Strictly It Takes Two on Wednesday to talk to Janette Manrara about her return to the show for the first time this year, on Saturday.
She issued a warning to her fans and gave Janette an update about her cancer treatment.
Amy told Janette: “I just felt like I was at home and I just missed it so much.
“I’ve got chemotherapy again tomorrow, session 6. I’m over halfway and I can see the finish line. I’m not going to lie, it is tough.
“I just want to raise as much awareness as I possibly can and get everybody to check their chest.”
Amy continued: “Everyone has been amazing. from the dancers here, makeup, wardrobe everyone.
“But I’ve got to give a special shout out to two execs James and Jack, they’ve been there since my diagnosis in spring.
(Image: BBC)
“We’ve cried happy tears, sad tears, but getting involved in the show has helped me on those difficult days to push through.
“Pros like Dianne, there’s not a day goes by where she doesn’t message me. Katya and Nigel facetiming me on chemo day. I’m just forever grateful.”
Asked by Janette about her decision to shave off her hair, she admitted it had been ‘traumatic’.
She continued: “I found losing my hair really traumatic and it didn’t matter how much I prepared myself for it. I couldn’t even brush my own hair in the end because I couldn’t deal with it, and I couldn’t even look in the mirror in the end because I was bald on top.
“I told my friends and family ‘I’m shaving it tomorrow’. We did it and we all did it together tried to make it as fun as possible.
“From seeing videos online of friends I’ve met shaving it off, they inspired me and I tried to use my platform to give others the strength they need.
“The response I got was so overwhelming.
Asked why Amy chose not to wear her wig on Saturday, and she said that it had been a last minute decision that she didn’t even tell her husband about.
Amy said: “My wig wasn’t ready for the dress run, but Dianne was just going on all day about ‘you just look so beautiful’ and I did a dress run and I just realised the Strictly family treated me no differently. They just give me so much lvoe and supprot.
“The hair and makeup girls were going ‘don’t wear the wig!’, and I just felt realy liberated.
“I didn’t tell anyone, I didn’t tell my husband because I was so nervous. I wasn’t quite sure.
“I’m so glad I did it. Now it doesn’t matter if I’ve got my wig on or not.”
Who is Amy Dowden’s husband?
Amy Dowden is married to husband Ben Jones.
Ben is also a dancer and the pair work together professionally away from Strictly. They run the Art In Motion dance school in Cradley Heath in the West Midlands together.
The pair are close friends with fellow pro Dianne Buswell, who was a bridesmaid at their wedding.
Strictly It Takes Two returns on Thursday on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer at 6.30pm.
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