Strictly's Amy Dowden admits she felt 'bitter and jealous' on NYE amid cancer battle

What did you miss?

Amy Dowden has confessed she felt "bitter" and "jealous" seeing other people share their highlights of 2023 on social media.

The Strictly Come Dancing dancer had a difficult year after being diagnosed with breast cancer and suffering various health problems. She admitted to Lorraine Kelly on Wednesday that it had been hard to see others reflect on the past year with such positivity, when she was struggling to do the same.

What, how, and why?

Professional dancer Dowden has kept a smile on her face throughout her cancer diagnosis and treatment, and bravely appeared on Strictly without a wig after losing her hair to chemotherapy. But she shared on Instagram she was happy to be saying goodbye to 2023 after all the hurdles she had faced last year.

Dowden confessed on Lorraine: “On New Year's Eve when you wake up and you see everyone's posts about the year I was actually quite bitter. When I looked back I thought: 'I've had cancer, I've lost my hair, I've lost my boob, I've had sepsis, and I went into septic shock. I've had blood clots and broke my foot.' And then you're watching everybody else share these lovely photos and reels and I was a bit jealous.”

Dowden married her dance partner Ben Jones in 2022 and had started the year with so many hopes. She said: “At the beginning of the year, I had so many lovely plans. I was on the Strictly arena tour, honeymoon planned with my husband and then within a day, when I got the news…

"It doesn’t just change during the treatment and surgery, it changes forever, it has changed me as a person. My parents, my family, I see the pain in their eyes, it affected all of us, my husband, my lovely dance school and students.”

The 33-year-old Welsh star had been meant to perform a group dance in the Strictly 2023 final, but was unable to after she broke her foot. She revealed: “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.”

Dowden also revealed: “I’ve had two blood clots in my arm, one on my lungs and at the beginning of December, I was rushed in and they were worried it was travelling to the heart. But I’m injecting myself every day and my stomach is black and blue from it."

The brave and smiling Strictly star had posted on Instagram on New Year's Eve: "Smiling because we are saying GOODBYE 2023! Wishing everyone a very happy new year filled with health, happiness and love! Make memories to cherish and spend time with loved ones. Thank you all so much for the love and support I received and certainly felt this past year #grateful ! Now roll on midnight! Welsh love x #happynewyear #2024"

What else happened on Lorraine?

Dowden revealed her goal for 2024 is to get back on the Strictly dancefloor and compete in the show this year. She said: “I just want to get myself back on that dancefloor and yeah it would be amazing to win but winning will just be back with a gang dancing, doing what I love, in front of the audience and the people I love.”

Asked who her dream celebrity dance partner would be Dowden named Hollywood star Hugh Jackman, Good Morning Britain presenter Ben Shephard and Welsh actor Luke Evans.

Lorraine airs on ITV at 9am on weekdays.

Read more: Amy Dowden

• Strictly Come Dancing: Amy Dowden can't wait for 2023 to end (BBC, 4 min read)

• Strictly's Amy Dowden vows to win this year's competition (Yahoo UK, 3 min read)

• Amy Dowden breaks foot shortly after finishing cancer treatment (Independent, 2 min read)

Watch: Amy Dowden chats to Digital Spy