Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden has revealed Tom and Giovanna Fletcher embarked on an eight hour round trip to visit her after she told them about her cancer diagnosis.
The Welsh professional dancer, who was paired with the McFly star on the BBC dance competition in 2021, announced she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer last May after finding a lump in her breast the day before her Maldives honeymoon with fellow professional dancer Ben Jones.
“I can remember ringing Tom and telling him, and Tom and G got straight in the car to do an eight hour round trip to come and see me,” Dowden told Kate Thornton on her White Wine Question Time podcast.
“Giovanna had finished a trek then did a three hour drive home. They got in the car, they drove to Wales where my parents live.
“They spent a couple of hours with me and then they drove back, bless them. All because they wanted to be with me in person.”
Last month, Caerphilly-born Dowden revealed her latest health check showed “no evidence of disease” and she has now set her sights on getting back to the dancefloor.
She said she will not receive the “all clear” for five years due to her type of cancer, and that during that time she will continue to receive monthly injections and regular check-ups.
In 2019, Dowden revealed that she was suffering from Crohn’s disease, and fronted the BBC programme Strictly Amy: Crohn’s And Me, in which she spoke about her battle with the condition and met other people with Crohn’s to hear about their experiences.
On the moment she told the producers of Strictly about the condition, she said: “I told them straight away and it was the first time I felt accepted because I was offered the job (to perform on Strictly).
“I genuinely thought that when they would find out, that would be my chance is gone.
“I’ve been on the show because I’d had so many other rejections previously because of my Crohn’s disease. They just made me feel so relaxed.”
Kate Thornton’s White Wine Question Time is available to listen to on all podcast platforms.
