Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden has spoken about how her close friendship with former celebrity partner Tom Fletcher became life-saving after his charity work led to her cancer diagnosis
Amy Dowden has opened up about her heartfelt connection with former dance partner Tom Fletcher, sharing how the duo “sobbed and sobbed for days” while competing on Strictly Come Dancing.
The professional dancer, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023, spoke candidly about their partnership during an appearance on former Made In Chelsea star Spencer Matthews’ Big Fish podcast last year.
Amy and Tom were paired for the 2021 series, quickly winning over viewers with their energetic performances and the authentic friendship that developed between them.
The duo left the competition during Musicals Week in 2021, after facing Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu in the dance-off. Yet Amy told Spencer that their Strictly journey wasn’t measured by scores or leaderboard positions, but by the happiness they discovered along the way.
Reflecting on her career, she acknowledged that the demanding nature of Strictly means every second counts. “A dancer’s career is a bit like a footballer’s career, isn’t it? It’s short, it’s short-term left, really, and you always want to make the most of every opportunity,” she explained, reports Wales Online.
“And genuinely, I can only say, from my experience with all my celebs, I’m having the best time.”
Her connection with Tom, who will be performing a song from the new musical adaptation of Paddington on Strictly this weekend, was particularly special. Amy described how devastatingly emotional it was when their Strictly adventure ended.
“Me, Tom Fletcher, like sobbed and sobbed, and sobbed for days,” she said. “It was the same series as Adam Peaty in, and I reckon we sobbed that much that we could have had a swimming pool for Adam to go swimming in.”
She emphasised that their tears weren’t about the competition or missing out on a trophy. “It wasn’t about winning. We were just absolutely loving it,” she said.
Following their final It Takes Two appearance, the pair headed to a restaurant to mark the end of their journey. “We just sat there and cried,” Amy recalled.
“Everyone was probably looking at us going, ‘Everything okay?’ But we were just… we were just gutted, you know? We just enjoyed going to the studio every single day.”
The 35-year-old dancer was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023 after discovering a lump just before jetting off on honeymoon with her husband, Ben Jones. She underwent a single mastectomy and chemotherapy, and last month disclosed she is preparing for a second mastectomy.
During a November episode of It Takes Two, Amy revealed that her bond with Tom extended far beyond their dancing partnership. In a profoundly moving disclosure, she credited the partnership with saving her life due to his charity work.
“Tom and Giovanna worked very closely with breast cancer charities and that is what led to me finding my tumour and being diagnosed with cancer,” she said. “Without Tom, I wouldn’t be here now.”
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