Amy Dowden was terrified of being axed from Strictly amid cancer battle reveals pal Sara Davies
AMY Dowden was so terrified of being axed from Strictly that she almost delayed her chemotherapy, close pal Sara Davies has revealed.
The Dragon’s Den star, who competed on Strictly in 2021, has opened up about the time she had to persuade Amy to undergo her treatment when it was presented to her.
Sara has been close friends with Amy, 33, ever since they were paired together with dancer Aljaz Skorjanec during the 2021 series of the show.
The pair have since gone on to appear on Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, which aired last year after Dowden publicly revealed her stage three breast cancer diagnosis in May.
The professional dancer underwent a mastectomy and fertility treatment, which prevented her from competing in the 2023 series of Strictly.
And now Sara has told how scared Amy was to take time off from the dance competition to focus on her health.
Speaking on the Invite Only Sara said: “I spent a lot of time with her at the start of the cancer diagnosis when she wasn’t feeling positive. She’d been dealt a bad hand and she was struggling with it.”
Sara explained how she recognised she needed to step up to ensure Amy had the right support system in place.
She continued: “I was the one who was like, ‘What’s the plan, Amy?’ and pushing her to make difficult decisions.
“She wasn’t sure if she was going to have chemo so we talked about that.”
The entrepreneur then went on to talk about how hard it was for Amy to step away from dancing for a while to focus on herself.
“I had to look her in the eye and say: ‘Amy, you’ve got cancer. They’ve literally just cut your boob off. They are telling you you need to have this chemo to get better. Don’t worry about dance and Strictly,” Sara said.
“Her response was: ‘But they might not want me back next year.’ So I said: ‘Amy, you’re amazing at what you do, of course they will want you back. You’re so well-loved. Please, it’s really important. Get well.’
“And then she went on the show without her wig as well. What a phenomenal moment. When I saw her, I cried.”
Although Amy did not compete in Strictly last year, she did make a few appearances on the show.
During the show’s final, she bravely took to the dance floor without a wig, as she had lost her hair due to chemotherapy.
The star has also been keeping fans updated about her health journey since she announced her cancer diagnosis and had her last chemotherapy session in November.
Last week she revealed her hair is growing back as she reunited with her co-stars.