Strictly Come Dancing's Amy Dowden's courageous real reason for swift return after cancer

Strictly Come Dancing pro Amy Dowden has been through a whirlwind of emotions after her breast cancer battle, but she was determined to make a triumphant return to the show in 2024. However, just weeks into her comeback, the Welsh dancer faced another scare when she was rushed to hospital during filming on Saturday.

A spokesperson for Amy later reassured fans that the 34-year-old was only taken to hospital "as a precaution" and is now feeling "much better", expressing gratitude for the overwhelming support from the Strictly family and fans, who sent their best wishes.

Amy, who is partnered with singer JB Gill in the 22nd series of the dance competition, had to skip the previous series due to her diagnosis. Earlier this year, she shared her experiences on Dr Liz O'Riordan's podcast 'So Now I've Got Breast Cancer', discussing her eagerness to return to the series post-treatment.

On the podcast, Amy said: "Hopefully it will inspire anyone else going through any treatment or anything like this – it doesn't have to be cancer – that if Amy can do it and get back on the dance floor then you can get back there too."

Despite confirming her return to Strictly in March, Amy revealed to the Mirror earlier this year that at one point during her illness, she was so unwell that she found herself in intensive care, casting doubt over her dancing future.

Speaking about her harrowing experience in the ICU, Amy Dowden revealed: "I had severely low blood pressure, a low heart rate, I wasn't passing urine for 14 hours, my infection markers were at dangerous levels."

She continued, "I had three different types of antibiotics and I finally responded to the third type. We met the paramedics a week later and they said if I had gone to bed that night I might not have woken up the next morning."

After overcoming this critical phase, Amy returned to dazzle on Strictly Come Dancing with JB, 37, as her partner for the competition.

JLS singer JB took to Instagram to share his appreciation for well wishes sent to Amy, writing: "On behalf of both @amy_dowden and I, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone for voting for us and wishing us well."

He added, "We absolutely loved our performance on Saturday night and are so grateful to be through to another week on @bbcstrictly Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support."