Amy Dowden gives health update after announcing she is dropping out of Strictly in 'heartbreaking' statement

6 November 2024, 19:40 | Updated: 6 November 2024, 19:45

Amy Dowden and former dance partner JB Gill
Amy Dowden and former dance partner JB Gill. Picture: Getty

By Kit Heren

Amy Dowden has given fans a health update after announcing earlier this week that she was dropping out of this year's Strictly Come Dancing.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Dowden, 34, returned to the dance competition this year after undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

She returned to competing in the dance show for its 20th anniversary series after missing out last year while undergoing treatment.

On Wednesday, Dowden told Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two that the injury was "nothing to do with any previous health scares".

"This injury could have happened to anybody," she added.

Amy Dowden with former dance partner JB Gill
Amy Dowden with former dance partner JB Gill. Picture: Alamy

The Welsh dancer, who was partnered with JLS singer JB Gill, also expressed a desire to return to this year's series "in some capacity".

"Hopefully I'll be back dancing in some capacity, maybe in a group number, by the end of the series," she said.

Dowden described her injury as "an insufficiency stress fracture" on her shin.

Gill will now partner up with Lauren Oakley who had been without a celebrity this year and stepped in to replace Dowden on last weekend's show.

A spokeswoman for Strictly said earlier: "Sadly, Amy Dowden MBE will not be partaking in the rest of the competition this year.

"Whilst Amy focuses on her recovery following a foot injury, fellow professional dancer Lauren Oakley will step in as JB's dance partner.

Read more: Strictly star Amy Dowden ruled out of show after dancer is rushed to hospital following backstage 'medical emergency'

"The health and wellbeing of everyone involved in Strictly are always the utmost priority. The whole Strictly family sends Amy love and well wishes."

In an update to fans posted on her Instagram page, Amy wrote: "My heart is breaking right now. The past few months I finally felt like me again.

"Cancer was no longer the first thing I thought of when I woke up. It was choreography, music choices, which dances in which order, what we needed to work on. I felt free again… I’m so sad, so upset and asking why me, why now that our journey has been cut short.

"My heart right now is breaking having to pull out of the competition due to a foot injury and I know only too well ‘this too shall pass’ and I’ll be soon better and back dancing.”

JB Gill and Amy Dowden at Venom: The Last Dance UK Premiere
JB Gill and Amy Dowden at Venom: The Last Dance UK Premiere. Picture: Alamy

The BBC confirmed the news during the spin-off show, Strictly: It Takes Two.

Dowden was taken ill with a 'medical emergency' during last Saturday’s live show.

The fire service and ambulance were called to Elstree Studios where they used specialist equipment to help her into the ambulance and keep her completely flat.

A spokesperson for the East of England Ambulance Service said: "We were called just after 9pm on Saturday to attend a medical emergency at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood.

"An ambulance was sent to the scene. One patient, an adult female, was transported to Barnet Hospital for further care."

Dowden's spokesperson told MailOnline following the emergency: "Amy was feeling unwell and so an ambulance was called as a precaution.

"She is feeling much better and would like to thank the Strictly family for their love and concern.

Amy Dowden returned to Strictly this year after a battle with cancer
Amy Dowden returned to Strictly this year after a battle with cancer. Picture: Alamy

"We request Amy's privacy in matters of health is kindly respected."

Dowden announced in February that she would return to the show this year, after a mastectomy and chemotherapy left her with “no evidence of disease” following tests.

Following her comeback, she said she was "so happy [she] could burst."

Dowden was originally diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2023, after finding a lump the day before her honeymoon.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Exclusive
‘The storm of war is gathering’: Defence cuts leave UK critically unprepared for a 'bumpy decade', warns ex-minister

‘The storm of war is gathering’: Defence cuts leave UK 'woefully unprepared' for a 'bumpy decade', warns ex-minister

Tony Blair leads tributes to John Prescott

'Devastated' Tony Blair leads tributes to John Prescott after former deputy PM dies aged 86

North Korea Deepens Russian Alliance: Troop Deployments Prioritise Advanced Weapons Technology Over Financial Gains

North Korea deepens alliance with Russia, trading troop support for advanced weapons technology to fuel nuclear programme

Former deputy prime minister John Prescott has died aged 86

Former deputy PM John Prescott dies aged 86 following battle with Alzheimer's

Exclusive
Soldiers are being trained in trench and urban warfare

'Kill him before he tries to kill you': LBC visits Ukrainian troops being trained by British soldiers

Rolf Harris has died aged 93

Paedophile entertainer Rolf Harris died penniless after 'wiping out £16m fortune to make it harder for victims to access'

Exclusive
Captain Sir Tom Moore's daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore

Money 'reasonably expected' to reach Captain Tom's charity never did, commissioner tells LBC

Which? has revealed the best and worst deals for Black Friday. (stock image)

Black Friday 2024: Which? reveals deals to avoid - and the best alternatives

File photo dated 16/04/20 of the then 99-year-old war veteran Captain Tom Moore, with (left to right) grandson Benji, daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and granddaughter Georgia, at his home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire

Salary demands, book payments and a doomed spa block: Key findings of the Captain Tom Foundation inquiry

Captain Tom's daughter is facing questions about a hefty book payment

Captain Tom's daughter faces questions over £1.5m book payment after none of the money went to charity

Captain Tom's daughter Hannah and her husband Colin 'significantly' benefited from the foundation personally

Captain Tom's daughter and her husband saw 'significant personal benefit' from father's charity, inquiry finds

The tourist died in the Patong are of Phuket.

British tourist found dead in Phuket storm drain after going missing on night out

Marcus Fakana, 18, is facing 20-years behind bars.

Brit teenager, 18, facing 20-year jail sentence for 'holiday romance' with 17-year-old girl in Dubai

Taxi driver Urfan Sharif, 42, made the dramatic admission under cross-examination in court today

Sara Sharif begged for forgiveness for 'being rude' in letter to parents, court hears

Simone White, Holly Bowles, Bianca Jones

British tourists 'in hospital with methanol poisoning' after drinking toxic shots in Laos holiday spot

Soldiers from the 13th counter intelligence battalion, 2nd reconnaissance platoon of the Swedish Armed Forces, participate in military exercise in Kungsangen

Britain must learn from Sweden to boost defence as tensions with Russia rise, military chief says