24 May 2023 , 09:49
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Strictly Come Dancing pro Amy Dowden waited patiently to get married, her plans put on hold like so many, because of the pandemic.
When she and fellow professional dancer husband Ben Jones finally made it to the altar in her native Wales last summer they couldn’t have been happier.
And their belated honeymoon just last month to the Maldives was paradise, as dreamy photos Amy posted on Instagram showed.
Except for one nagging worry. Just a day before they flew, Amy, just 32, found a lump in her breast.
She put concerns to one side so she could enjoy she and Ben’s holiday of a lifetime, but behind the idyllic shots and big smiles, her concerns remained and the lump appeared to grow bigger. On her return, she knew she had to see a doctor.
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Ben Jones and Amy Dowden pictured here in 2015, went on a honeymoon to the Maldives last month (Facebook)Last week, the ballroom favourite, from Caerphilly, South Wales, who joined the BBC hit show in 2017, heard the words she had dreaded the most - she had breast cancer.
Talking to Hello magazine she said: "I was in the shower and I felt this hard lump in my right breast.
"I was in shock; I checked again. I thought: 'Right, it could just be period-related, or so many things. I decided I was going to keep an eye on it for a few weeks. On holiday, putting body lotion on every day, I was noticing it.”
She continued: “Then, once we were back home, I went to do a [dance] show with Ben and I was putting some shimmer on and the lump felt so much bigger. I just knew I needed to go to the doctors."
A biopsy was taken, and Amy has now bravely revealed she has grade 3 breast cancer.
She told Hello! : “My doctor explained to me that there are three grades, and three is the most aggressive, but they feel like they've caught mine early and to not be too alarmed because grade 3 would be expected in somebody of my age."
The dancer, who partnered EastEnders actor James Bye in the last Strictly series, is now awaiting a treatment plan but knows it will include surgery.
She does not know yet which stage of cancer she has and is awaiting further scans.
Amy and Ben run a dance academy together in the West Midlands called Art In Motion.
She says he is remaining positive. "Ben only hears the positive, and then he only talks about the positive side of things,” she said.
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The pair married on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales with Amy’s twin sister Rebecca and fellow professional dancer Dianne Buswell as bridesmaids.
Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood and former Strictly dancers Janette Manrara and her husband Aljaz Skorjanec, were guests.