Filming Dare to Dance took me away from the reality of cancer... I am super grateful
AS AMY DOWDEN’S HEART-WARMING SERIES RETURNS, THE STAR REVEALS HOW SHE CARRIED ON FILMING WHILE FACING CANCER TREATMENT – WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM FRIENDS
AMY DOWDEN says she is “truly grateful” she was able to carry on with TV work while going through cancer, as it gave her “something to get up for” every day.
The Welsh Strictly Come Dancing pro, 33, had already started making the second series of Dare To Dance – in which she coaches regular people to learn a dance routine to surprise their family and friends with – when she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer last May.
“We started filming just before my cancer diagnosis. So I’m like fully meeting the contributors, I’d taught them their first lesson and first steps, and then unfortunately I got the diagnosis. But we continued to film right until my mastectomy [last June],” says Amy.
“And then two weeks after my mastectomy, I was back – I couldn’t dance myself, but I could still instruct – and we got the series done before I started chemo. So I was very much involved, far more than I thought, and it really, really helped.”
Caerphilly-born Amy, who joined Strictly in 2017, found a lump in her breast just before going on honeymoon with her husband, fellow pro dancer Ben Jones, last April.
Being able to carry on working kept her connected to a sense of “normality”, she says.
“I’m just truly grateful, and it’s been the tonic that I needed. You know, my normality – I think had I had all that taken away from me, I would have really struggled.
“And Dare To Dance is full of what I love most – teaching, dancing, choreographing. It took me away from my reality, I guess, and I’m just super grateful. I hope that I can represent to anyone else going through any health battles that you can continue, you don’t have to have your identity completely stripped away from you.”
The new four-part run features people from across Wales with important reasons for being selected. These include two friends preparing to dance at a Windrush Day celebration; a young woman who stopped dancing when her confidence plummeted due to sight-loss, and a couple who brought their wedding forward due to their own cancer diagnosis.
In a surprise twist, when Amy needed a break from filming due to treatment, her Strictly colleagues stepped in to help.
“We called upon the help of my brilliant Strictly friends – Diane Buswell, Carlos Gu, Graziano Di Prima, Oti Mabuse – so the contributors didn’t miss out.
“It really added to the show because they got to pick up tips from them and build their confidence up from them,” explains Amy, who was touched by the show of support from her Strictly pals.
“It just shows what a family we truly all are.
“I called them up and Diane, who I think finished one job the night before, got straight in the car down to help me – all of them did. We spoke on FaceTime during the sessions. They were a massive help, and it was a lovely surprise as well for the contributors.”
Knowing how much dancing can mean to people, Amy says she would have been “gutted” if her diagnosis had put a stop to things.
“Obviously I’d just started this wonderful series, I would have been gutted if it couldn’t have continued – and not for myself but for the contributors, because I’ve just turned up at their house and surprised them and told them they’re going to get this amazing experience.
“I would have hated to have had to take that away from them or postpone it. Imagine rocking up for Debbie and Chris [the couple going through cancer] and surprising them when they’re having their prewedding photoshoot, telling them I’m going to teach you to dance for your wedding day and then actually saying: ‘Oh, I can’t now.’
“I’d have been heartbroken and gutted for them, because they couldn’t postpone their wedding because of me. So I’m just so grateful we were able to continue and give them all those magical moments.”
Amy says she “learned so much from the contributors” too – and while the purpose of the show was for her to help them, they ended up helping her.
“We became really close, like a family.
“When you’re doing something as intensive as this, it’s important for the team to create that special bond. And honestly, it’s what helped me get through such a difficult period in my life,” she says.
Amy, who also lives with the lifelong inflammatory bowel condition Crohn’s disease, which she was diagnosed with at 19, faced further health complications as 2023 went on, including life-threatening sideeffects from the cancer treatment, blood clots and sepsis.
During the early days of her treatment however, she believes “100%” that staying connected with her passions helped her: “Because I had a focus, and I had something to get up for every day. And also something that I truly, truly love – dancing – and everything about dancing and being around people, I think that’s so important as well.
“Being surrounded by wonderful human beings, and keeping busy, keeping occupied.”
Amy shares regular updates about her health on Instagram and is glad she’s been able to use her experience to raise awareness.
People regularly stop to speak with her and tell her what a difference it has made to them.
“It’s been really overwhelming, just so lovely,” says Amy.
“I often get people say, ‘we just want to give you a hug’ or wish you well, or very often it’s [sharing] their journey or somebody they love, because I think everybody knows somebody affected by cancer. It’s just been really heart-warming.
“I’ve even had people come up to me and say: ‘Because of you Amy, I check my chest now’ – and that was the whole reason for me going public, because I never thought at the age of 32, I would get diagnosed with breast cancer.
“I’ve even had people messaging me online to say, because of me, they found a lump and went to their GP and unfortunately have been diagnosed, but they still thank me because if it wasn’t for me, they wouldn’t have known, and dread to think what the outcome could have been.
“So, I’m going do all I can to continue to raise awareness.”