Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden was terrified that she would be axed from the BBC show following her cancer diagnosis according to her friend, Dragons’ Den star Sara Davis. Sara has been close friends with Amy since she competed on Strictly in 2021.
The pair even teamed up for a special edition of Celebrity Antiques Road Trip last year. “I spent a lot of time with her at the start of the cancer diagnosis when she wasn’t feeling positive.
“She’d been dealt a bad hand and she was struggling with it,” Sara admitted. “I was the one who was like, ‘What’s the plan, Amy?’ and pushing her to make difficult decisions.
“She wasn’t sure if she was going to have chemo so we talked about that. I had to look her in the eye and say: ‘Amy, you’ve got cancer.
“They’ve literally just cut your boob off. They are telling you you need to have this chemo to get better. Don’t worry about dance and Strictly,” the entrepreneur told the Invite Only podcast.
“Her response was, ‘But they might not want me back next year.’
“So I said, ‘Amy, you’re amazing at what you do, of course they will want you back. You’re so well-loved. Please, it’s really important. Get well.'”
The professional dancer underwent a mastectomy and fertility treatment, which she documented on her social media.
The treatment prevented her from competing in the 2023 series of Strictly however she did make a few appearances on the show.
Sarah admitted that she was deeply moved during the final when Amy bravely took to the dance floor without a wig.
The star had lost her hair due to chemotherapy and at the time was also in a boot having fractured her foot.
However, she managed to appear waving to fans as part of a huge group number at the beginning of the show.
“And then she went on the show without her wig as well. What a phenomenal moment. When I saw her, I cried,” Sara confessed.
Dragons’ Den is on BBC One on Thursday nights at 8pm.