Amy Dowden opens up on hopes of Strictly return next year after cancer
Fans are wishing the professional dancer a brighter 2024.
Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden has expressed her hopes of returning to the BBC show, following a difficult year in which she has battled cancer and other serious health conditions.
In May 2023, the Welsh dancer announced she had been diagnosed with stage III breast cancer, with further complications including sepsis in August and blood clots, including one on her lung for which she is currently administering injections.
Throughout her illness, Dowden has maintained a strong desire to compete in Strictly Come Dancing once again – which remains a top goal as she looks ahead to 2024.
She told ITV's Lorraine: "I just want to get myself back on that dance floor and it would be amazing to win Strictly, but [just] to be back with the gang, dancing, doing what I love, in front of an audience with the people I love. I've missed it so much."
Dowden named actors Hugh Jackman and Luke Evans as well as Good Morning Britain host Ben Shephard among the celebrities on her Strictly wish list.
The professional, whose previous celebrity dance partners include Karim Zeroual and Tom Fletcher, revealed that plans for a "group number based on a dance about my cancer journey" – to have taken place at the Strictly 2023 final – had to be called off after she broke her foot.
"I was devastated when I broke my foot and I couldn't do it," said Dowden. "But being the amazing team, I did fanography and just being back there and that adrenaline, it's what I've missed so much. It made my dancing heart so happy being back on that floor."
Giving an update on the injury, she added: "I go back this afternoon to see the fracture clinic. Being on chemo, it can delay your bones healing, make your bone density weaker, so I'll get some answers but I can't wait for it to come off."
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