Strictly’s Amy Dowden on heartbreaking question people ask her about having children

Amy has opened up about how her cancer journey has impacted her plans to start a family (Image: BBC/Wildflame Productions)Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxMore Newsletters SubscribePlease enter a valid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.More NewslettersWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More infoThank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow me See OurPrivacy Notice See OurPrivacy Notice×Group 28 Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxInvalid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.Sign UpNo thanks, closeWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info×Group 28Thank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow MeNo thanks, closeSee our
Privacy NoticeStrictly Come Dancing’s Amy Dowden has bravely opened up about her battle with stage three breast cancer at the age of 32, describing it as the “most petrifying” period she’s ever faced. The talented dancer, who recently tied the knot, found herself transitioning from dance rehearsals to enduring chemotherapy sessions and preserving her fertility amidst a medically induced menopause. Amy is now taking her personal struggle public in a poignant BBC documentary that captures her fight against cancer over the past year. “When you’re told you’ve got cancer, in a click of the fingers, your life changes,” Amy shares. “You have everything stripped away from you. I had my dancing taken away from me, what I love most in the world.” Diagnosed while working on her BBC series Dare To Dance in April 2023, Amy chose to let the same team that filmed her Crohn’s disease documentary capture her cancer treatment journey. “After my Crohn’s documentary, I knew the impact that made and how it made me accept my condition for the first time,” she reveals.

Strictly Come Dancing’s Amy is supporting by co-star Dianne Buswell in the documentary
(Image: BBC/Wildflame Productions)

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“If it can raise awareness and 10 people start checking themselves from watching this documentary, I could potentially save a life,” Amy continues. Despite concerns from loved ones, she felt documenting her experience was the right choice: “It was daunting and I did have friends and family saying, ‘Are you sure you want to do this? ‘ But it gave me a focus throughout all of this.” The Strictly Come Dancing professional faced another health setback when she was diagnosed with “another type of cancer” that required chemotherapy, forcing her to withdraw from the 21st series of the show. “I was scared. I was emotional. I didn’t want to do it. I wanted to be at Strictly with my best friends who were sitting in rehearsals,” she shared. “I didn’t want to lose my hair.” It was her best mate Jenny a breast cancer survivor herself who supported Amy through her treatment journey. “I don’t think I would have gone through those doors of chemo if it wasn’t for Jenny,” Amy revealed. “She kept telling me I can do this, saying, ‘Look at me now.’ It was the most petrified I’ve ever been in my entire life.” The documentary Strictly Amy: Cancer And Me tracks Amy’s experience as she seeks fertility treatment after her cancer diagnosis put her dreams of starting a family with husband Ben Jones at risk. “I had a hormone-feeding cancer, so they needed to put me into menopause because my hormones were feeding the cancer,” she explains.

Amy has been candid about freezing her eggs and how cancer has impacted her plans to start a family
(Image: BBC/Wildflame Productions)

Amy decided to freeze her eggs prior to chemotherapy, which “destroys a lot of cells” in the 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,” she explains. “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.” One of the toughest aspects of Amy’s cancer journey was seeing her family suffer. However, it has shown her who she can depend on. “You really learn who your true friends and family are during this time and I’m so lucky to have the best,” she shares. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to pay them back for it.” During the hardest moments, Strictly Come Dancing was what inspired Amy to keep pushing through her treatment. “When I’m dancing, I forget all my worries, stresses and pain in life,” she admits. “Strictly is something I worked all my life for and I wasn’t going to let cancer stop me from going back. I need that goal and purpose because I’m not sure what I would have done otherwise.”

Amy Dowden is finally returning to Strictly Come Dancing after a year off and admits that she’s ‘buzzing’ to be back
(Image: BBC/Wildfire Productions/Sam Lumley)

Earlier this year in February, Amy was overjoyed to find out that she was disease-free. She described the “relief as immense”. Now, she’s gearing up to return to Strictly for its 20th anniversary and is thrilled to be back on the dance floor. “It feels like my first year again. I’m excited to see the whole team, for costumes, for dance routines, to meet the celebrities, the judges,” she gushed. “I am buzzing. Everyone’s laughing at me because I am just smiling constantly.” While her health is now stable, Amy shared that she’s gained a lot of insight from her fellow cancer sufferers after connecting with them online. “Nikki, a remarkable young lady in her thirties, who I connected to online, unfortunately passed away from breast cancer during my treatment last year,” she revealed. “She always said, ‘Go grab life,’ and that’s what she did. I’m determined to live by her motto. I’ve learnt that appearance really doesn’t matter. I had my hair, my eyebrows, my eyelashes stripped away from me. I gained two stone in weight, I was on steroids, chemo, had a broken foot you name it. Your soul shines through. I was stripped bare and still accepted. I’ve learnt to love and appreciate every single moment even more in life.” Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me airs Monday 26 August at 8pm on BBC One.Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnStrictly Come DancingDocumentary

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