Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden revealed what it’s really like working with her former rival turned co-star ahead of their tour

Advertisement

Amy Dowden has opened up about her friendship with her Strictly Come Dancing co-star and former rival Carlos Gu. The pair are preparing to return to the stage for a new chapter of their tour, Reborn, which kicks off next month.

Ahead of showcasing their moves, Amy revealed what it was really like working with 2025’s Strictly winning professional.

The 35-year-old said the pair are like siblings – which sometimes means they “fight”. “We’ve known each other for a long time and were rivals, but never bitter ones, always friends,” she said. “He’s a beautiful soul who was there for me during my cancer journey.

“He calls my mum and dad ‘mama and papa’ – we really are like brother and sister,” she added to The Metro newspaper.

“We fight, we cry, we laugh, and we don’t hold back. I’ll come downstairs in something and he’ll go, ‘Who told you you look good in that?’ But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Revealing what fans can expect from the tour, she said there will be an appearance from Carlos’ former Strictly partner Karen Carney at two venues.

She also teased an “empowering new group number” as part of the 24 routines they are preparing.

Amy’s return to the stage comes after a difficult period with her health. The dancer underwent chemotherapy and a mastectomy following her breast cancer diagnosis in 2023.

She also lives with Crohn’s disease and has suffered a broken foot, sepsis, and blood clots in recent years.

Reflecting on her health journey, Amy said it has felt like a “weird mix” of being lucky and unlucky, but that she has tried her best to remain positive.

“A young lady, Nikki, lost her life to breast cancer when I was going through chemo, and her motto was, ‘Go grab life’,” she said. “I’ve promised her and myself that’s what I’ll do.

“I’m still here, my hair has grown back, I’ve got my energy and dancing sparkle back, and when life is hard, I’m lucky to have family and friends around me,” she added.

Advertisement

In the same interview, Amy said she is still unsure whether she will return to the Strictly Come Dancing dance floor later this year.

This comes after several of her co-stars announced their departures from the line-up, including the show’s longest-serving professional, Karen Hauer.

Recently addressing the changes, Carlos said on Kate Thornton’s White Wine Question Time podcast: “I know we’ve heard, we’ve all seen the news, but nothing confirmed by the BBC yet, so we’re waiting.

“I think they’re going to make the final announcement for the full cast. But like I said, being in a position of not knowing if you’re going to stay or not is scary. We work so hard in our lives, but those things are out of your hands.”

The traders will showcase their work during the first Bishy Road Bazaar in the Bishopthorpe Road car park from 11am to 3pm on Sunday (April 19).

Three more Bishy Road Bazaars will take place from 11am to 3pm on Sunday, May 24, Sunday, July 19 and Sunday, August 23.

The Bishy Road Bazaar will see more than 30 traders come together at the Sunday market (Image: DogEatCog)

There will be no market in June as the community will be focusing on Bishopthorpe Road’s street party on Sunday, June 21.

The Bishy Road Bazaar has been funded by the mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith, through his Vibrant and Sustainable Highstreet Fund.

Read next:

An event spokesperson said it will be a “lively community bazaar” showcasing “a diverse selection of stalls”, with homemade crafts, unique gifts, vintage finds and locally produced goods for sale.

“This is an exciting opportunity to showcase the amazing artists and creatives living in York whilst bringing people together and celebrating all Bishy Road has to offer,” they said.

“Visitors can expect a welcoming atmosphere that celebrates the creativity and imagination of York’s makers and creatives,” the spokesperson added.

“We hope you can pop down to support your local artists on Sunday or on one of the other dates.”

Anyone who would like to get involved with the Bishy Road Bazaar is asked to email bishyroadta@gmail.com

Journalists do not become journalists to prepare for court hearings. They join newsrooms, submit FOI requests, ask questions, report from council hearings and courts and speak to as many people as they can because they have a story to tell. They also know that local communities do better when there is more information in the public domain, not less.

Journalism is vital for local democracy to hold power in check and give a voice to the community, ensuring no one is beyond scrutiny. However, unchecked wealth and influence has a powerful ally in its quest to prevent questions being asked and sheltering itself from uncomfortable attention; the British justice system.

Abusive lawsuits, sometimes called SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), allow those with money to threaten costly and time-intensive court action to prevent reporting being made public or to force published work from the public eye.

Abusive lawsuits are not genuine attempts to address flaws in the journalist’s work. Indeed, many journalists are sued just for asking questions or requesting comment from someone who has not even read the piece before deciding to sue them. SLAPPs are attempts to silence reporting and cordon off those deserving of scrutiny from any form of public accountability.

All forms of journalism are vulnerable to this sort of abuse from legal bullies. For investigating Putin’s rise to power, Catherine Belton was threatened by multiple Russian oligarchs and a Russian state oil company; Paul Radu, the co-founder of OCCRP, was sued by an Azerbaijan MP in London even though neither are based in the UK; the UK Treasury were only too happy to allow disgraced and sanctioned Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin to sue Bellingcat founder, Eliot Higgins; and the legal action, including threats of imprisonment, aimed at The Londoner by the subject of its reporting.

But these tactics are not limited to national or international outlets; local journalists and smaller outlets can also be targeted by the same or similar abusive legal threats.

Journalists are not the only ones who can be targeted to spike a story. SLAPPs have been used against survivors of sexual assault who have named their attackers to warn other women; they have been used against local campaigners working tirelessly to improve public services for themselves and their neighbours; they have been used against former patients who have posted reviews to inform others exploring potential medical treatment; they have been used against environmentalists fighting to protect endangered species and eco-systems from corporate greed; they have been used against tenants who have the temerity to request repairs are made in good time and that complaints are taken seriously. In fact, there are few areas of society untouched by this form of legalised bullying, and so we have to ask – who has been threatened into silence, so much so that they are too fearful to speak to a journalist?

SLAPPs remove information from the public domain. Every story, social media post, blog, report or published piece of work removed by a target who cannot afford to mount a defence, cannot afford to turn away from their work to prepare for going to court, and cannot afford to endure the complexity and unpredictability of the British justice system, is something that leaves us all worse off.

However, next month the government has an opportunity to re-address the balance to ensure that those targeted by legal bullies have the same right to justice as those wealthy enough to afford the legal costs. If the King’s Speech includes a Bill that will establish universal, clear and meaningful anti-SLAPP protections, we know legislative time will be put aside for Parliamentarians to take an important step for the rights of everyone to speak out.

This op-ed has been provided by the co-chairs of the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition:

• Nik Williams, Index on Censorship
• Susan Coughtrie, Foreign Policy Centre
• Charlie Holt, Climate Legal Defense

The UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition is an informal working group established in January 2021 comprising a number of freedom of expression, whistleblowing, anti-corruption and transparency organisations, as well as media lawyers, researchers and academics.

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday suspended the fuel tax in response to the Iran war in his first act after securing a majority government.

Carney said that with fuel prices increasing sharply, he is suspending the federal fuel excise tax from next Monday until Labor Day, Sept. 7. He called it a “responsible, temporary measure” that also will reduce costs for truckers and businesses.

Carney’s Liberals now have 174 of the 343 seats in the House of Commons and won’t need support from opposition parties to pass legislation after winning three districts that became vacant after last year’s election.

Carney’s government is the first in Canada’s history to switch from a minority to a majority between national elections.

The Liberal Party could stay in power until 2029 after Monday’s results.

Carney said he wants to focus on affordability, housing and accelerating major economic projects.

“Voters have placed their trust in our new government’s plan,” he said.

Carney won Canada’s election last year, fueled by public anger over U.S. President Donald Trump’s annexation threats. He has vowed to reduce Canada’s reliance on the U.S.

Five defections from opposition parties, including four from the main opposition Conservative party, later put Carney’s Liberals on the cusp of the majority.

One of those defectors referenced Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in his decision. In that speech, Carney condemned economic coercion by great powers against smaller countries, and received widespread praise.

Carney, the former head of the Bank of England as well as Canada’s central bank, has moved the Liberals to the center-right since replacing Justin Trudeau as prime minister.

Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, said Trump has been a major factor in Carney’s rise to prime minister, but his performance on the world stage has added to his popularity.

“Canadians liked seeing how well he was received at Davos and have been impressed by his travels abroad — he visited 13 countries by last September — in search of new alliances, investments and trade pacts. World leaders want to do business with him,” Wiseman said.