Amy Dowden says she's determined to return to Strictly's dancefloor in 2024

The pro-dancer skipped the latest series of the ballroom show amid her battle with cancer
Amy Dowden says her 2024 goal is to return to Strictly dancefloor
Amy Dowden says her 2024 goal is to return to Strictly dancefloor
Getty
Dominique Hines3 January 2024
The Weekender

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Strictly Come Dancing's Amy Dowden has said her number one goal is to get back on the dancefloor for the next series of the ballroom show.

The pro-dancer, 34, who has been battling breast cancer, appeared on Lorraine on Wednesday and said her goal is to compete in the 2024 show and bag the coveted Glitter Ball.

"I just want to get myself back on that dance floor and it would be amazing to win Strictly, but winning would be to be back with the gang, dancing, doing what I love, in front of an audience with the people I love. I’ve missed it so much," she said.

Dowden, who underwent a mastectomy, also broke her foot last year, which she previously said ruined any chances of her returning for a group number in the last series. 

"I go back this afternoon to see the fracture clinic," she told Lorraine. "Being on chemo, it can delay your bones healing, make your bone density weaker, so I’ll get some answers but I can’t wait for it to come off.”

Dowden told Lorraine her big hopes for 2024 and looked back on her harrowing year
Dowden told Lorraine her big hopes for 2024
ITV

During the chat, she also admitted that she felt "bitter" when she saw everyone's posts on New Year's Eve looking back at the year they’d had.

"At the beginning of the year, I had so many lovely plans," she said. "I was on the Strictly arena tour, honeymoon planned with my husband and then within a day, when I got the news… 

"It doesn’t just change during the treatment and surgery, it changes forever, it has changed me as a person.

"My parents, my family, I see the pain in their eyes, it affected all of us, my husband, my lovely dance school and students."

She added: "I look back and I did find some amazing opportunities but also, I thought, I’ve had cancer, I’ve lost my hair, I’ve had sepsis, I went in to septic shock, I’ve had blood clots, broke my foot and you’re watching everyone else share these lovely photos and reels and I was a bit jealous."

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