Strictly's Amy Dowden hit by cruel trolls and branded an 'attention seeker'

-Credit: (Image: BBC)
-Credit: (Image: BBC)


Strictly star Amy Dowden has opened up about some of the cruel trolling she experienced while going through cancer treatment. Nasty comments were left under her social media posts, branding her an "attention seeker".

In a BBC documentary titles 'Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me', the 34-year-old dancer shared more details of her battle with breast cancer. She was diagnosed in May 2023, meaning she had to pull out of that year's series of Strictly Come Dancing to focus on recovery and treatment. The devastating news came just days before her honeymoon.

Amy said she had initially hoped surgery would help but that two months later doctors found more tumours and "another type of cancer". Earlier this year she shared that she had been given the all-clear following a masectomy.

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Throughout her treatment, Amy has been sharing her cancer battle online, documenting hospital appointments and the emotional moment she had her hair shaved off.

While she says she has received plenty of supportive and positive comments, she has also had to face backlash. In the BBC documentary, she says she was criticised for her social media posts.

One comment was shown on screen, which said: "I find the need to be in the limelight very attention seeking. Coinciding with the return of Strictly. Go enjoy life and family while you can."

Another said: "Narcissism is a self-centred personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs. I don't see the other millions who suffer from cancer do the same crap she does."

Amy added that people said she "should go away and get on with it, that I should quit moaning because it wasn’t even stage four".

She even received comments about her appearance, as she explained: ""One told me I looked like Matt Lucas, which I probably did because I was bald."

The TV personality went on to talk about her misconceptions about breast cancer, saying she had believed it only affected older women. She said: "I didn't think I would get breast cancer. I was 32 years old. I was a physically fit dancer on Strictly, I’d just got married. Mammograms don’t start until you’re in your 50s."

Prior to her diagnosis, Amy had taken part in a CoppaFeel charity walk alongside Giovanna Fletcher. She said she had felt like a "hypocrite" which is what prompted her to check herself.

She said: "I met some incredible people on that trip who’d had breast cancer in their 20s, and I’m thinking, 'I’m being a hypocrite, trekking to raise awareness for checking yourself and I don’t even do it.' So I started regularly checking myself, and a few months later, in April 2023, I found a lump."

It has been confirmed that Amy will be returning to Strictly Come Dancing, which will air at 7:20pm on BBC One tonight, Saturday, September 14.

She said: "I'm a proper family girl, I wouldn't have been itching to get through my cancer journey to get back on Strictly if it wasn't a show made up of pure love, joy and happiness," she said. "For me, it's my happy place. My heart is so happy to be back."