Amy Dowden thinks she has 'let JB Gill down' with her Strictly exit: 'I'm doing my best not to cry'

7 November 2024

Amy Dowden feels as if she has "let JB Gill down" with her 'Strictly Come Dancing' exit.

Amy Dowden feels as if she has 'let JB Gill down' with her early Strictly exit

The 34-year-old professional dancer returned to the BBC Latin and ballroom show in September after taking last year out to battle breast cancer and was paired with JLS singer JB , 37, but had to make a shock departure from the show when she injured her foot.

Speaking on ITV's 'Lorraine', she said: "I'm heartbroken. I'm doing my best not to cry. I know lots of people say it's just an entertainment show but I'm gutted that it's ended this way. I feel I've let JB down. And after those words 'You've got cancer...'"

In her absence, the 'Beat Again' hitmaker will be joined by Lauren Oakley for the remainder of his time on the competition but Amy revealed that this week's heat marks a year since she completed her cancer treatment and she had been planning a "joyful" routine to celebrate.

She said: "It's an insufficiency fracture, and I just need a couple of weeks without hard impact on it basically. On Saturday, 9 November, it's a year since I rang the chemo bell and I just had this Samba, the joyful carnival happy dance. The way I'd planned this series, JB has got the most natural body rhythm."

Amy - who was declared cancer-free earlier this year - "really wanted" to be back on the show this weekend but is "proud" that she managed to get there in the first place.

She said: "I really wanted to be dancing on that floor to show myself how far I've come in one year. When I got my diagnosis, that was the absolute goal of mine. I'm so proud that I did get there.

"I'm hoping to dance by the end of the series, next year I've got my tour. I've had a lot of setbacks in my life. I'm used to having to pick myself up."