Strictly’s Amy Dowden ‘sadly’ departs competition early after foot injury

Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden has left the BBC One competition early following a foot injury.

The Welsh dancer, 34, made a return to the celebrity contest this year after undergoing treatment for breast cancer and had been partnered with JLS star JB Gill.

He will now be paired with professional Lauren Oakley, who had been without a celebrity this year and stepped in to replace Dowden on last weekend’s show.

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Recovery

A spokeswoman for Strictly said: “Sadly, Amy Dowden MBE will not be partaking in the rest of the competition this year.

“Whilst Amy focuses on her recovery following a foot injury, fellow professional dancer Lauren Oakley will step in as JB’s dance partner.

“The health and wellbeing of everyone involved in Strictly are always the utmost priority. The whole Strictly family sends Amy love and well wishes.”

The news was announced on Monday evening during the show’s spin-off programme, Strictly: It Takes Two.

On Saturday, Dowden watched in the studio as Gill and Oakley danced to a Bruno Mars medley and earned the joint highest score of this year’s series.

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Taken ill

Dowden had been taken ill during the live show the previous weekend and missed the Sunday results programme.

She was taken to Barnet Hospital from the BBC One show’s production centre, Elstree Studios, as a “precaution” after “feeling unwell”, a spokesman for Dowden said at the time.

Last year, Dowden found a lump in her breast while on her honeymoon in the Maldives with fellow professional dancer Ben Jones, and was unable to compete on Strictly.

After treatment for stage three breast cancer, she announced in February that tests showed she had “no evidence of disease”.

The Caerphilly dancer has documented both her cancer journey and living with Crohn’s disease on a number of BBC shows.

She fronted the BBC programme Strictly Amy: Crohn’s And Me, which she said helped her “accept” her own condition for the “first time ever” after meeting other people with the bowel disease.

Dowden, who was admitted to hospital in Manchester following a Crohn’s flare-up during the 2022 Strictly live tour, said the BBC show encouraged her to front Strictly Amy: Cancer And Me in which she spoke about her fertility and health issues.