‘I’m very lucky’ – Amy’s tribute to husband’s support ahead of TV return
STRICTLY Come Dancing star Amy Dowden has paid tribute to her husband Benjamin Jones ahead of the release of the second series of Dare to Dance.
The 33-year-old – who was diagnosed with breast cancer last May – said: “I’m very lucky to have somebody who supports everything that I put myself forward to.”
Amy, from Caerphilly, who sat out last year’s series of Strictly while she was receiving chemotherapy, added: “[Ben and I] dance professionally a lot together, but actually when we’re home, because we run a business dancing together, then we talk.
“Everything in our life revolves around dancing, whether it’s teaching, talking about it, judging, watching it, reading about it, but dancing together is not something we have a lot of time to do.”
Amy and fellow dancer Benjamin wed in Gower in July 2022 after first meeting in 2011. Her cancer diagnosis came during filming of the latest series of Dare to Dance.
“We started filming and I’d met the contributors and taught them their first steps,” said Amy.
“Then unfortunately I was diagnosed with breast cancer, but I was so keen to keep the series going. I’d just rocked up and surprised them and given them their dance shoes and got them to embrace this and they accepted the challenge.
“There was no way I wanted to take this away from them. I wanted to keep every part of normality for me because it was my escape from reality.
“Production worked so hard to keep it going for me. I had a couple of weeks until my mastectomy, so we did all we could and then after my mastectomy, we called upon the help of my fellow Strictly friends: Dianne Buswell, Graziano Di Prima, Oti Mabuse and Carlos Gu. I called them and they wanted to do all they could to help me.”
Throughout the process, Amy said her ‘Strictly family’ would message and FaceTime her to keep her updated with the contributors’ progress.
The new series of Dare to Dance will share stories of people from Wales who dance for very special
reasons. This includes two friends dancing for Windrush Day, a young woman who lost her confidence because she couldn’t see well, and a couple who had to get married sooner because of cancer.
Amy hopes the show will encourage viewers to take up dancing.
“What have you got to lose?” Amy said. “I think the most rewarding things in life are when you push yourself to do something and the self-achievement afterwards and the pride that you get and the confidence and everything like that. It is so rewarding. So what if it’s the weirdest thing that’s going to happen, it’s not a life-or-death situation. So try it and who knows? You’re going to learn a new skill.”
Reflecting on advice she gave the contributors, Amy said: “At the end of the day, it’s not about becoming a world champion. It’s about creating lifelong memories and moments that you’re never going to get back again. Getting them to fall in love with the world of dance, that’s my job, and then fall in love with my world.
“I think it was important for them to realise that when you see Strictly
me as a professional dancer, it certainly wasn’t like that along the way.
“Still now, we might be given a style on Strictly in a group number that is not our comfort blanket and we have to really push and learn. Also, I always try to get into their life and understand their job because I wouldn’t be able to necessarily do what they do.”
She added that she was able to learn things from the contributors, too.
“I learned different strengths and resilience, different outlooks on life, their work ethics – appreciation and respect to them all. I learned something from each and every one of them and I truly believe they were all sent to me at this time in my life. They deserve this opportunity.
“I’m so proud of them all as well and for giving it their all and trusting me, but I really do believe that they also got something from it and watching them grow in confidence, I guess, was something that was so rewarding to me.”
■ Amy Dowden’s Dare To Dance series two starts on BBC One Wales and BBC iPlayer on Friday, March 1 at 7pm.