Amy Dowden delighted viewers as she returned to Strictly Come Dancing during Saturday’s live episode amid her breast cancer battle.
The professional dancer, 33, is taking a break from this year’s series after she was diagnosed with the disease in May and while she has been undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
Twinkle-toed star Amy, who bravely shaved her head after her hair began falling out from her chemotherapy last month, looked stunning as she wore a glitzy pink dress with tasseled detail and some sparkling silver heels.
She was seen wearing a blonde wig while standing next to the rest of the professionals and their celebrity partners, and show host Claudia Winkleman.
Pleased to see Amy back on the BBC ballroom dance contest, one person wrote on Twitter: ‘Amy Dowden back on our screens looking as beautiful as ever. Lovely to see.’
Surprise appearance: Amy Dowden, 33, delighted viewers as she returned to Strictly Come Dancing during Saturday’s live episode amid her breast cancer battle
Health troubles: The professional dancer is taking a break from this series after she was diagnosed with cancer in May and while she has been undergoing chemotherapy treatment (pictured this month)
While someone else shared: ‘I love how much Amy is still being included in Strictly. Absolute Angel.’
Someone else wrote: ‘I love that Amy is still part of this season in some way,’ while another viewer posted: ‘Lovely to see our gorgeous Amy on the screen tonight. Miss her sooooo much!!’
‘Love seeing @dowden_amy back on Strictly and she looks stunning,’ posted another show fan.
And another viewer commented: ‘I just LOVE seeing Amy back on #Strictly!!’
Someone else wrote: ‘I see Amy with the group and I am delighted.’
While another audience member at home shared: ‘Amy Dowden back on my screen what a queen.’
‘Amy in the background!! Her dress is gorgeous,’ wrote another viewer.
This is not the first time Amy has made an appearance on this year’s Strictly – she took to Instagram to share some snaps of herself with the other professionals earlier this month.
On air: Twinkle-toed star Amy (third left) looked stunning as she wore a glitzy pink dress with tasseled detail and some sparkling silver heels as she chatted to show host Claudia Winkleman (centre)
Delighted: Pleased to see Amy back on the BBC ballroom dance contest, viewers took to Twitter to express their joy
It comes after Amy revealed she had a gut feeling about her cancer diagnosis while on her Maldives honeymoon but did not want to tell her husband Ben Jones.
During an appearance on Loose Women on Friday she said she did not tell her partner over fears he would not want to go on the trip.
Amy said she found a lump in her right breast in April, a day before she and her husband flew out for a belated honeymoon after their wedding last July.
The ballroom dancer was first diagnosed with aggressive stage three breast cancer in May.
Amy said after finding it, she knew she had cancer because her mother was also diagnosed with the disease in her fifties after a mammogram scan.
Speaking to the panel – Jane Moore, Denise Welch, Judi Love and Nadia Sawalha – Amy said: ‘I knew. My mum had breast cancer but hers was picked up in a mammogram and she didn’t feel it, it was picked up on her first mammogram.
‘I didn’t tell my husband Ben. I went on the honeymoon and every day you’re putting sun tan lotion on and I could feel it. I just had this gut feeling.’
Explaining why she didn’t want to tell him initially, Amy said, ‘Well, he wouldn’t have gone on the honeymoon! And I really wanted this honeymoon, for a break… What could we have done?’
Gut feeling: It comes after Amy revealed she had a gut feeling about her cancer diagnosis while on her Maldives honeymoon but did not want to tell her husband Ben Jones
Newlyweds: The dancer told the Loose Women panel on Friday she did not tell her partner over fears he would not want to go on the trip
Detailing what happened when they returned, Amy shared, ‘I had an ultrasound and I’d already Googled what it looks like and I could see, and I could just tell.
‘All of a sudden there’s a breast care nurse with me and I rang my sister and I was in floods of tears and she was saying ‘We don’t know’ and I said, ‘Don’t tell Ben, I don’t want to panic Ben’.’
When receiving her diagnosis, the star explained that after being told she had cancer, the first question she was asked was whether she had any plans for children.
The star and her new husband had not yet had that conversation but it was always on the cards for her.
She said: ‘I could tell from the breast care nurses, who are just phenomenal.
‘They are handpicked, they’re amazing and then I could tell from the surgeon’s face and then he said to me you’ve got breast cancer and then in the next sentence, “What’s your plans for children?”, and for me that was just…
‘In my head I’m thinking, ‘What’s Ben thinking?’ My twin sister knows that children have always been on the cards for me.
‘So I was gonna have a lumpectomy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment and then after an MRI scan, that changed to mastectomy, into hopefully time for egg retrieval, to chemotherapy.’
Sharing why she was reluctant to have chemotherapy initially, Amy shared, ‘I knew that was it for Strictly that season and I’ve just watched my beautiful friend, my pink sister Jenny, go through cancer and she had to have chemotherapy and we did the ring-the-bell party we arranged for her and I’ve seen what it put her through.
Tearful: Amy has used her love for Strictly to help motivate her to keep strong and look ahead to the future
‘I was just really scared and I didn’t want to lose my hair and I didn’t want to miss out on Strictly.’
Amy has used her love for Strictly to help motivate her to keep strong and look ahead to the future.
She said: ‘I keep saying to myself, ‘This too shall pass’ and unfortunately, people are getting diagnosed every day with breast cancer – I just hope that I can give them some encouragement, that they can see that I got through it and I got back on the dancefloor and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.’
Strictly Come Dancing: The Results airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Sunday at 7.15pm.
STRICTLY COME DANCING 2023: WHO ARE THE CONTESTANTS?
Angela Rippon
Age: 78
Profession: Journalist
Angela says: ‘Having been a fan of Strictly since day one, and as a former presenter of Come Dancing, this will be quite an adventure for me. A scary one, considering I’m about to be 79. But I’m looking forward to the challenge, and perhaps being able to learn to dance the Argentine Tango.’
Amanda Abbington
Age: 49
Profession: Actress
Amanda says: ‘I’m thrilled to have been asked to do Strictly. I’m actually really shy and self-conscious so this will be a great opportunity for me to overcome those things.’
Layton Williams
Age: 28
Profession: Actor
Layton says: ‘Absolutely buzzing to confirm that I will be taking part in THE most iconic dance competition in the UK! It’s time to bring it to the Ballroom. So excited to learn new skills from the best. Bring on the sequins… ALL the sequins!’
Age: 53
Profession: Journalist
Krishnan says: ‘I’m surprised, delighted and slightly confused to find myself taking part in Strictly on the basis of ‘You only live once!’ I can’t wait to start learning to dance, but I am slightly worried about my general decrepitude.’
Age: 40
Profession: Comedian and radio presenter
Eddie says: ‘WOW. Anyone who knows me, understands that music and dance is so important and central to who I am. I’m so unbelievably proud and honoured that Strictly and the BBC have asked me to join the 2023 Team. I promise you, I’m going to give it everything I’ve got. This is going to be a VIBE.
Angela Scanlon
Age: 39
Profession: TV presenter
Angela says: ‘I’m not particularly fit, I’ve no idea how my pelvic floor is going to react to this dancing. I’ve never done any dances apart from drunken jiving at a wedding!’
Age: 26
Profession: Documentary maker and former Love Island star
Zara says: ‘I am so excited to be joining the world of Strictly! I grew up watching it every year with my nan and she was the biggest Strictly fan. We would dance around the house and I have such fond memories of that time in my life.’
Adam Thomas
Age: 34
Profession: Actor and presenter
Adam says: ‘I can’t dance to save my life but I’m buzzing to learn and have a good laugh with my pro. Get me on that dance floor…I can’t wait!’
Age: 22
Profession: Coronation Street star
Ellie says: ‘It still doesn’t feel real that I’m going to be doing Strictly!! It’s always been a dream of mine so I guess dreams really do come true!!!!’
Age: 20
Profession: EastEnders star and model
Bobby says: ‘I’m so excited to be part of the Strictly line up, I can’t wait to start training like a professional dancer and adding a few moves to my locker. I’m looking forward to performing in-front of everyone.’
Nigel Harman
Age: 49
Profession: Actor
Nigel says: ‘I’m amazed, excited, and terrified to be doing Strictly. As an armchair fan of the show I have watched in awe as people have twirled and gyrated across the screen. And now it’s my turn…..gulp!’
Age: 57
Profession: Broadcaster and ex tennis player
Annabel says: ‘I have always loved watching Strictly and can’t quite believe I’m going to be part of this magical show – swapping tennis balls for glitter balls and looking forward to finding some joyfulness in the process.’