Strictly star Amy Dowden says new show Dare To Dance was the "tonic I needed" for cancer treatment

Strictly star Amy Dowden says she is "truly grateful" she was able to carry on with TV work while going through cancer treatment.

The Welsh Strictly Come Dancing pro, 33, had already started making the second series of Dare To Dance - in which she coaches regular people to learn a dance routine to surprise their family and friends with - when she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer last May.

Caerphilly-born Dowden, who joined Strictly in 2017, found a lump in her breast just before going on honeymoon with her husband, fellow pro dancer Ben Jones, last April. She said that being able to carry on working kept her connected to a sense of "normality".

She said: "We started filming just before my cancer diagnosis. So I’m like fully meeting the contributors, I’d taught them their first lesson and first steps, and then unfortunately I got the diagnosis. But we continued to film right until my mastectomy.

"Then two weeks after my mastectomy, I was back - I couldn’t dance myself, but I could still instruct - and we got the series done before I started chemo. So I was very much involved, far more than I thought, and it really, really helped.

"I’m just truly grateful, and it’s been the tonic that I needed. You know, my normality - I think had I had all that taken away from me, I would have really struggled."

Following the same format as the first series, which aired in January 2023, the new series - a four-parter set to air from March 1 - features people from across Wales who all have their own important reasons for being selected. These include two friends preparing to dance at a Windrush Day celebration, a young woman who stopped dancing when her confidence plummeted due to sight-loss, and a couple who brought their wedding forwards due to their own cancer diagnosis.

In a surprise twist this time, when Dowden needed a break from filming due to treatment, her Strictly colleagues stepped in to help.

"We called upon the help of my brilliant Strictly friends - Diane Buswell, Carlos Gu, Graziano Di Prima, Oti Mabuse - so the contributors didn’t miss out. And actually, I think it really added to the show because they got to pick up tips from them and build their confidence up from them," Dowden said.

"It just shows what a family we truly all are. I called them up and Diane, who I think finished one job the night before, got straight in the car down to help me, all of them did. We spoke on FaceTime during the sessions. They were a massive help, and it was a lovely surprise as well for the contributors."