Yahoo News Amy Dowden’s call to Strictly family during tough time battling cancer
Exclusive: Amy Dowden shares support from her husband Ben behind the scenes of Dare to Dance
Amy Dowden has shared how she has called upon her Strictly family to help her during her cancer battle.
The Strictly Come Dancing professional was diagnosed with breast cancer last year – days into filming BBC show Dare To Dance – and she wasted no time in phoning her friends to ask for their help. Strictly stars Dianne Buswell, Graziano Di Prima and Oti Mabuse stepped up to the challenge to help with filming the show.
Dowden – who said she is getting "stronger each day" – praised her Strictly stars for not hesitating to help her in her time of need. She said: "We called upon the help of my fellow Strictly friends, my Strictly family... I called them and straight away they wanted to do all they could to help me." The Strictly stars kept Dowden in the loop with filming by sharing sweet messages and they enjoyed Facetiming her too.
The dancer said it would have broken her heart to have let down all the couples involved in the Dare to Dance process, including Debbie and Chris who had brought forward their own wedding because of a cancer diagnosis. She said: "How could I tell Debbie and Chris I'm going to do your wedding dance and then not be able to deliver it? It would have been heartbreaking for me."
For Dowden, it was incredibly rewarding seeing the couple achieve a beautiful first dance. She shared: "Any wedding dance that I teach is rewarding because it is such a big milestone in people's lives. So that in itself adds pressure, especially with the story. And Debbie is such an amazing human being. She taught me so much, actually: resilience, strength and how to power through.
"It was a very emotional evening, but it was full of happiness, that room, and of love and of joy. And the way they looked over to me after they danced, they had a little kiss. And then they looked over to me – just as if to say 'we did it' and the smiles on their faces. Oh, I was so proud and it was such a great day. It was lush."
Strictly family rush to help
Dowden had high praise for the production crew and her "incredible" friends who helped her deliver her promises. She added: "I'm just so proud that we were able to continue. And that's down to the amazing production crew as well as my incredible friends. We managed to get it all filmed before I started chemo. And for me, honestly, it was the tonic I needed right then as well."
Reflecting, Dowden enthused why she called on her Strictly friends to help her and how she matched them with the Dare to Dance stars based on compatibility. In a sweet moment, the professional dancer hailed her friends as "masters" of dance.
She shared: "They are masters at this because my show is taking two non dancers to perform which is exactly like what we do on Strictly, isn't it? So of course I know my Strictly pros, I know them inside out. They're my best friends as well.
"So I knew which personality would suit each contributor. And I knew that they're phenomenal dancers, they're phenomenal teachers. I knew that the contributors would have loved that surprise as well, and it was just exactly what they needed.
"It was always the right time to bring them in. Maybe when they were having self doubts or struggling with certain steps. Or we wanted to add a lift in. So I knew exactly which pro to get. Of course they were like my first call.
"I hope that shows everybody what a Strictly family we really are. When anyone needs help, we are all there for each other. We truly care about one another, and I would have done it for each and every one of them as well. They are incredibly busy but they were like, ‘What can we do? We'll make it happen.’"
Before enlisting the help of her friends, Dowden had already taught the Dare to Dance stars the first steps of the choreography and there was no way she was going to let them down. She explained: "Unfortunately I was diagnosed with breast cancer but I was so keen to keep the series going."
She added: "There was no way I was going to take this away from them. I wanted to keep every part or normality for me and keep me away. It was my escapism from reality and production worked so hard to keep it going for me."
How Ben Jones supports his wife
As well as her Strictly family, her husband Ben has been an incredible support too behind the scenes. She said: "He was brilliant, absolutely brilliant. When I have an idea for choreography, he'd always help me. I'm very lucky to have somebody who supports everything... Everything in our life is revolves around dancing where we are talking about it, judging, watching it or reading about it."
It was a fantastic learning experience for Dowden too. She said she learned something special from each of the people who had signed up to learn to dance. She said: "From each of them, I guess I learned different – different strengths, different resilience, different outlooks on life, their work ethics. I appreciate and respect them all."
As well as the wedding couple – Dowden helped teach dances to a young woman who started to lose her sight and lost her confidence, a firefighter who harbours a secret love of dance and two friends preparing for a dance at a big Windrush Day celebration.
Amy Dowden's Dare to Dance returns to BBC One Wales and iPlayer for a second series from 1 March.
