Strictly Come Dancing’s Amy Dowden on Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me
Dancer Amy Dowden talks about fighting for her health, her future family and her love for dance in personal documentary Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me.
Professional dancer Amy Dowden had been living her dream. Taking to the stage on Strictly Come Dancing, marrying the love of her life, hoping one day to start a family – in 2023, the 32-year-old felt she had her whole life ahead of her.
But when Dowden discovered a lump in her breast the night before her honeymoon, her world came crashing down. Tests later confirmed that she had breast cancer, and everything she thought was nailed on for her future was suddenly in the balance.
Of course, the dancer from south Wales is far from alone in her situation – and while that doesn’t make dealing with a cancer diagnosis any easier, she found solace in sharing her story with others and building connections with people in similar situations.
That’s why, just six days after she got the devastating news, Dowden decided to allow cameras to follow her journey – no matter what would unfold in the coming months.
Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me documents the most turbulent year of her life as she battles for her health, her future family, and her love for dance: a deeply personal, honest and raw journey through 15 months of tough decisions and brave resolve.
As the dancer prepares to return to Strictly for the 2024 series, she tells us about the eye-opening documentary that shares her difficult year with the fans who’ve missed her.
Amy, it’s such a brave decision to invite cameras in to document such a difficult time in your life. Why did you decide to do it?
After my Crohn’s documentary, I knew the impact that made and how it made me accept my condition for the first time ever.
I felt straight away (that) maybe I could make a difference.
I never thought I would ever, ever be diagnosed with breast cancer at 32. I only came across it because I was checking myself. If I wasn’t, I might not be here right now, because I had Grade 3, the most aggressive type of cancer.
If it can raise awareness and 10 people start checking themselves from watching this documentary, I could potentially save a life.
You’ve shared your story on social media since the beginning – what was the response like?
It’s been unbelievable. So many people reached out to me and that made me not feel alone, like I was the only 32-year-old going through this – fertility treatment and chemotherapy, losing my hair.
This girl, Kelly, messaged me to say she was going through exactly the same thing as me, and I made her no longer feel alone. And as awful as it was, she thanked me for sharing it. That, for me, straight away gave me the courage, like I’d done the right thing.
I wanted to be honest. I didn’t want people to think I wasn’t present because of my Crohn’s Disease.
I can remember in the lead up to chemotherapy, there was one young lady who – again, in her late 20s – had just completed chemo so I was messaging her asking so many questions. It became a real community for me online, which helped me equally, that I relied on, and would never have had if I had never spoken about it on social media.
You also had fertility treatment, can you tell us a bit about why that was needed?
I had a hormone fed cancer, so they needed to put me into menopause because my hormones were feeding the cancer. My whole body was feeding cancer.
But also because I was having chemotherapy, and as amazing as chemotherapy is, it destroys a lot of cells in your body. Your eggs, your ovaries, everything can be damaged and not necessarily reboot again. Since we got married, the question we’re asked the most is: ‘When are you going to have kids?’ and my body can’t go through that right now. You produce so many hormones when you’re pregnant, I’d be at such a high risk of my cancer returning.
Of course we want children, but we still don’t know. There are so many options, which we’re grateful for. With fertility and the pressure in general, you don’t know what someone is going through. People should bear that in mind. We need to educate.
We also watch as you fight to get back to the dancefloor – why was that such an important driver for you?
For me, dancing has always got me through the darkest times. When I’m dancing, I forget all my worries, stresses and pain in life. It’s where I’m happiest.
When you’re told you’ve got cancer, in those words, in a click of the fingers, your life changes. You have everything stripped away from you.
I had my dancing (taken) away from me, what I love most in the world. Strictly is something I worked all my life for, and I wasn’t going to let cancer stop me from going back.
Recovering from chemo was grim, it was awful. But the desire of being back on the dancefloor was what kept me motivated and determined.
Everyone’s different. There’s no textbook on how to deal with cancer. No right or wrong way – you’ve got to do what’s right for you – but I needed that goal. I needed that purpose.
Because I’m not sure what I would have done otherwise.
What do you hope people take away from the film?
I hope that, through the fertility treatment, that educates and helps people. There are so many women out there going through treatment, I want them to know they’re not alone… But most importantly, to get people checking themselves. You know your own body, it doesn’t even have to be a lump on your chest.
If there’s something not right, go to your GP. Early detection can save lives. And if you’re not checking, who is?
Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me is on BBC One on Monday, August 26 at 8pm.
