After Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden starts to allow herself to relax following her harrowing cancer ordeal, the dancer is left with a question mark over her life-long wish to become a mum
Strictly star Amy Dowden says she feels there is a “big, dark cloud” over her, as she worries her lifelong dream will never become a reality. The 35-year-old underwent a gruelling treatment plan after being diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2023.
The professional dancer had chemotherapy, a mastectomy and hormone therapy, as medics fought to give her the best chance of beating the disease. Thankfully, she was eventually given the all-clear in March 2024, with doctors finding ‘no evidence of disease’.
But although she returned to the BBC dance competition that year, she was again forced to pull out of the show, after suffering a foot injury while she was partnered up with JLS star JB Gill. Amy has now admitted she “wasn’t ready or well enough” to return to Strictly – but as well as the fear of losing her hard-earned career, she is left wondering if she will ever be able to have a baby.
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Speaking to the Mirror, Amy said: “Obviously, there is a big, dark cloud over me. Will I become a mother? I’ve wanted to be a mummy since I was a little girl.
“I was one of those girls who would always have a little baby Annabelle. And I have two gorgeous nephews, who I love to pieces. But we will cross that bridge when it comes to it and I will explore every option going.”
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Amy who married fellow dancer Ben Jones in 2022, was put into an early, hormone-induced menopause when she started her course of chemotherapy. The couple froze five embryos, but it’s not certain whether Amy will be able to safely carry a child herself.
In November 2025, the Welsh native underwent her second mastectomy, this time as a preventative measure. Amy was fearful that having cancer could lead to the end of her career, but she was determined to build up the strength to get back to the dancefloor.
Amy explained: “After what happened in 2023 and 2024, I realised I wasn’t ready or well enough to be on the show. I either had to hang up my dance shoes or dig deep. So I worked hard to get my body back to where it was before.
“After I finished chemo, I struggled to even walk up the stairs. When you’ve had something taken away from you, you appreciate it even more. It gave me the confidence I needed and last year, I realised Amy’s back. Cancer wasn’t going to take dancing away from me.”
Amy keeps on top of her health with regular check ups, but she says after her mastectomy in November, she can “finally see a future”. On World Cancer Day on 4 February, Amy showed her gratitude to those who supported her through her ordeal, sharing her story and clips of her treatment, hair loss and eventual return to Strictly.
While she admits it’s not always easy to show such vulnerability so publicly, she is spurred on by how it can help others who are also dealing with cancer. Explaining how sharing her journey has given others inspiration, she said: “Sometimes sharing yourself at your most vulnerable is not easy, but I also want to show the reality and try to help others.
“So many people have written to me saying, ‘I’ve been able to tell my little girl that Mummy’s not well, but look at Amy – she’s back dancing on Strictly again’. And that means so much to me. I’ve been on that other side, that daughter who has watched their mum go through it. I know how that felt.”
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