Strictly's Amy Dowden's battle with Chron's disease and living with Tom Fletcher

Strictly professional dancer Amy Dowden has been open about how she lives with Chrohn's disease - an incurable autoimmune disorder that affects the digestive system and causes pain and inflammation

Amy Dowden is due to miss tonight's Strictly Come Dancing, after she was rushed to hospital last Saturday after beginning to feel "unwell" following the live show.

The professional dancer, 34, was taken to Barnet Hospital from the BBC production centre Elstree Studios and as a result of her health emergency, will miss tonight's episode.

Hopefully Amy will make a speedy recovery, but it's not the first time her health condition has caused her to miss Strictly. The Welsh dancer was looked after by fellow Strictly stars Tom Fletcher and his wife Giovanna after a severe Crohn's flare up left her hospitalised in 2021. Amy was also treated for breast cancer recently, so her flare-up in November 2021 was another scary health scare to deal with - but luckily, the kind Fletchers and their kids were on hand to care for her.

Explaining why she would be missing from the BBC dance show the following week, Amy took to Instagram to share an update about her health.

Amy wrote at the time: "Thanks for all messages over the weekend. Unfortunately, I was missing from the show as I had an unexpected Crohn's flare-up and hospital admission in which I received unbelievable care. I'm recovering very well and certainly being well looked after and look forward to returning to the dance floor.

"Big thanks to lovely @saradaviescc and @tomfletcher for taking care of me (of all the days to be poorly, Ben was in Blackpool with the dance school). To the Fletchers who made sure I had everything and more at the hospital, have brought me back to theirs where the whole family are giving me all the love, care, burnt toast (Tom), unlimited supply of @mrsgifletcher clothes along with @tomfletcher sock choice you could possibly need, lots of drawings and pretend injections from my new doctors Buzz, Buddy and Max. Thank you, they really were sent to me."

She shared a series of photos of her with the Fletchers, including some in hospital, and some with the Fletchers' children, Buzz, Buddy and Max. Taking to his own Instagram, Tom shared the photos and added: "Let it be known that @amy_dowden is one of the strongest people I've EVER met! Having watched her documentary about living with Crohn's before we were partnered together, I had an insight into what she has to live with but, without going into detail, being with her during a Crohn's flare-up this weekend was a pretty scary experience, to say the least!" He added: "Rest assured; the Fletchers are taking care of her. X"

Amy was diagnosed with Chrohn's when she was just 11 years old, and has since admitted she was seen as "a risk" because of the incurable illness. Speaking on the BBC Access All podcast, she said in 2023: "I'd go for a try-out and then as soon as my dance teacher would say 'you need to tell them about your Crohn's,' I wouldn't hear back from them," she says. "I had so many rejections because of my Crohn's. If a producer wants to take you on tour, [they question] what happens to them and their insurance when I'm poorly? You're seen as a risk."

Amy is open about her Chrohn's disease, after her documentary Strictly Amy: Crohn’s And Me helped others to "accept" their condition. She fronted the BBC documentary, in which she spoke about her condition and met other people with Crohn’s to hear about their experiences. The lifelong condition, in which parts of the digestive system become inflamed, can cause stomach aches and cramps, fatigue and diarrhoea, among other symptoms, according to the NHS website.

She's an advocate and ambassador for the charity Crohn’s & Colitis UK, and even accepted an MBE on behalf of all Chrohn's sufferers. Today, Amy has issued a message of support to her Strictly Come Dancing partner JB Gill hours before he performs with stand-in Lauren Oakley in tonight's show.

"Wishing these two the absolute best of luck tonight! I’m going to be your biggest cheerleader!," wrote Amy.

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