Strictly star Amy reveals she’s battling breast cancer at 32
SHE has been open about her health struggles and how they have affected her career.
And now Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden, 32, has revealed that as well as battling Crohn’s disease, she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
The Welsh dancer, who has been on the BBC show since 2017, told of her shock at finding a lump a day before flying to the Maldives on her honeymoon last month.
She said that, while her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 50s, she assumed she was too young to have it so did not regularly check her breasts until recently. ‘You just don’t ever think it’s going to happen to you,’ she said. ‘I hadn’t thought it was possible to get breast cancer at my age.’
Ms Dowden said taking part in a charity trek for a breast cancer charity prompted her to start examining herself.
She told Hello! magazine: ‘Last year, I did the CoppaFeel! trek and I spoke to so many incredible ladies who had battled breast cancer. I was thinking to myself, “I don’t even check my breasts.” This last year, obviously, I made a conscious effort to check my breasts. CoppaFeel! has now potentially saved my life.’
Ms Dowden said she was in the shower when she discovered a lump. Doctors informed her the cancer was grade 3 and is likely to have spread, but that it had been caught early.
Ms Dowden, who married her longterm professional dance partner Ben Jones last July, said she is waiting to find out her treatment plan but it would probably involve surgery. She added: ‘I’m determined to get back on that dancefloor before you know it.’