Amy Dowden's devastating first sign of cancer at happiest time of life

07 November 2023 , 18:00

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Amy Dowden has swapped ballroom dancing for antique shopping as she joins Dragons' Den star and former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Sara Davies on BBC Two's Celebrity Antiques Road Trip tonight. The pair, who became close pals in 2021, will go head-to-head to see who can uncover the most interesting antiques and make the most money at auction.

Amy has been forced to take a break from the current Strictly series to focus on her health and future, after she was devastatingly diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in May this year. The 33-year-old Welsh professional dancer is currently undergoing chemotherapy and has expressed her wish to be straight back on the dancefloor as soon as she is better.

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Amy is on Celebrity Antiques Road Trip tonight with former Strictly contestant Sara Davies (BBC / STV Studios)

Amy, who is married to professional dancer Ben Jones, has shared her ongoing journey with fans since her diagnosis, which heartbreakingly came at what should've been the happiest time of her life. One day before her honeymoon to the Maldives in April, the dancer discovered a lump in her breast. She had only just begun checking herself, following a charity trek with the breast cancer charity CoppaFeel! "I was in the shower and I felt this hard lump in my right breast. I was in shock; I checked again," she told HELLO! Magazine. After realising the lump had grown while on holiday, Amy went to see her GP and was sent for an emergency referral.

It was then she was suddenly diagnosed with aggressive stage three breast cancer. "You just don't ever think it's going to happen to you. I hadn't thought it was possible to get breast cancer at my age," she continued, explaining that her mum had breast cancer in her fifties. Amy took to Instagram in May to let her fans know, writing: "Hey all, I've got some news which isn't easy to share. I've recently been diagnosed with breast cancer but I'm determined to get back on that dance floor before you know it." That month, Amy underwent a mastectomy and surgeons removed three tumours and further cancer specks, plus some lymph nodes from her right breast.

But days afterwards, doctors discovered a second type of breast cancer in the tissue they removed, plus more tumours, including one close to her chest, and specks in her other breast. It came as a huge shock to Amy. She was advised to have chemotherapy, but her first reaction was to refuse it. "I thought that's Strictly with a partner wiped out, that's my hair gone, that's my life gone. I was like, I don't want to do that," she told the Mirror. While her surgeon kept telling her she could "dance forever and ever afterwards", Amy was adamant she didn't want to do it - until her former dance teacher stepped in.

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Amy Dowden's devastating first sign of cancer at happiest time of life

She shaved her head in September and roped in her family and friends to help (Instagram)

Amy has had many setbacks, including sepsis, blood clots and low blood pressure (Daily Mirror)

Amy was undergoing IVF to create and freeze embryos at the time, hoping she and Ben might still have children. "She gave me tough love and said, 'What's the point of these embryos if you're not going to have chemo? Because you won't be around to have these babies anyway'," Amy said. She finally decided chemo was right. But sadly, her first and second cycles didn't go to plan, resulting in emergency hospital stays and life-threatening complications. First came sepsis, then blood clots. "They said my blood pressure was that low my vital organs would have started failing," Amy said of the first cycle. "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."

Assured by her oncologist that she had been unlucky, Amy pressed ahead with her second cycle of chemo, only to be faced again by terrifying circumstances. "I got blood clots, I ended up back in hospital," she explained, adding that it was "frightening". Amy recovered and as chemo continued, her hair began falling out at home, which was a horrific experience for her. "I found losing my hair really traumatic and it didn't matter how much I prepared for it I couldn't even brush my own hair in the end I couldn't even look in the mirror in the end because I was bald in top," she said.

Her final chemotherapy session is this week and then she will get to ring the bell on the ward (Channel 4)

In September, Amy made the decision to shave her head and filmed it to post on Instagram. "We all did it together, my friends and family got together, we tried to make it as fun as possible," Amy explained. "They inspired me and I want to use my platform to give others the courage and strength they need." Amy has kept the hairs in a small plastic IKEA bag and isn't really sure what to do with them. "Maybe I'll chuck it away when we do the 'ring the bell' party," she said. In her latest update, Amy said that monumental moment would be very soon.

On Channel 4's Stand Up To Cancer on Friday, Amy told host Davina McCall that her final session of treatment is this week. "Today is a good day. I have got my last chemotherapy session on Thursday, I can ring that chemotherapy bell. It's been the toughest year of my life," she explained. "I'm hoping with the surgery I've had and the chemotherapy, that I have done enough. It's been tough, I've had sepsis, blood clots, I've had hormonal treatment and was put into menopause. When I was sat in that room and the doctor said Amy, yes you have got cancer, that was one stab. And then it's, 'what's your fertility plans?', they needed to shut my ovaries down basically. It's heartbreaking. Emotionally, it's been so tough."