As Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden is honoured with an MBE at Buckingham Palace, we’ve taken a look at her heroic health battles following her breast cancer fight
Amy Dowden is no stranger to health battles, having lived with Crohn’s disease and faced a battle with breast cancer, along with further health struggles in early menopause and fertility struggles.
The Welsh dancer, 34, will be honoured with an MBE by the King at Buckingham Palace today (18 February) for her fundraising efforts and service in raising awareness of inflammatory bowel disease – a condition she has suffered with since childhood.
Amy first revealed that she had been living with Crohn’s disease in 2019, and in a bid to raise awareness of the condition and detail her own experience, fronted the BBC documentary – ‘Strictly Amy: Crohn’s And Me’.
Despite the disease’s severe symptoms, which can include diarrhoea, stomach pains, fatigue, and weight loss, she vowed not to let it hinder her dancing dreams. She even powered through a flare-up during her 2019 Strictly stint with McFly’s Tom Fletcher, which led to her temporarily moving in with the musician. “I have always been driven to win, so Crohn’s was never going to hold me back,” Amy declared, showcasing her indomitable spirit.
On the Monday Mile podcast with host Aimee Fuller, she revealed experiencing up to five “blackouts” daily as one of many symptoms, despite having managed others successfully over the years.
But her world was turned upside down when Amy was heartbreakingly diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2023, which saw her temporarily pause her time on Strictly Come Dancing. She underwent a mastectomy and chemotherapy and, in February last year, revealed her health check showed “no evidence of disease” after ringing the bell in November.
But after overcoming the battle with breast cancer, Amy faced further health challenges after being placed into medically induced menopause and dealing with fertility struggles. Before undergoing cancer treatment, Amy was warned by medical professionals that it would trigger early menopause. As a result, she underwent an egg retrieval procedure to maximise her and her husband Ben Jones’ chances of starting a family in the future.
Ahead of the release of her documentary ‘Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me’ last year, she told the BBC: “I had a hormone-fed cancer, so they needed to put me into menopause because my hormones were feeding the cancer. My whole body was feeding cancer. But also because I was having chemotherapy and as amazing as chemotherapy is, it destroys a lot of cells in your body. Your eggs, your ovaries, everything can be damaged and not necessarily reboot again.
“Since we got married, the question we’re asked the most is ‘When are you going to have kids?’ and my body can’t go through that right now. You produce so many hormones when you’re pregnant, I’d be at such a high risk of my cancer returning. Of course, we want children, but we still don’t know. There are so many options, which we’re grateful for. With fertility and the pressure in general, you don’t know what someone is going through. People should bear that in mind. We need to educate.”
Amy also spoke to Lorraine Kelly and her daughter Rosie Smith on their ‘What If?’ Podcast about her hopes for parenthood. “We would love a family,” she revealed. “We’ve got embryos because, obviously, I’ve got a hormone-fed cancer, so I was put into menopause, which happened the day I started chemo,” she further explained.
“So, in a couple of years, when they feel it’s safe, hopefully, we’ll have the opportunity. And if not, there’s still lots of other opportunities, which we have spoken about. Hopefully in years to come we’ll be lucky enough to become parents, too, but [we’re] taking every day as it comes.”
Earlier this month, Amy appeared on Loose Women alongside her Strictly co-star Carlos Gu, where she further discussed plans to start a family with Ben. When asked by panellist Ayda Field about where she stands in this journey, Amy responded: “So at the moment it would be too soon. I have been put into early menopause and it would be too dangerous now to consider it.”
She added: “But I really want to be a mum, I’ve always wanted to be a mum. We do have five embryos, and I hope one day, if it’s safe to do so, I do get the privilege and honour to be someone’s mum.” The audience erupted into applause as Ruth Langsford told her: “You’ve achieved so much, you’re such an inspiration to everybody.”