Amy Dowden appeared in high spirits as she made her return to TV, after a health scare forced her to pull out of this week’s Strictly Come Dancing live show.
The professional dancer missed Sunday’s results programme after being taken to Barnet Hospital from the BBC One show’s production centre, Elstree Studios, as a “precaution” after the star began “feeling unwell”.
On Friday, Dowden appeared on BBC spin-off series It Takes Two alongside her celebrity partner JB Gill and Lauren Oakley – the professional who has stepped in to rehearse with the JLS star and will perform during Saturday’s live show.
Amy Dowden and JB Gill during their appearance on the live show of Saturday’s Strictly Come Dancing show (Guy Levy/BBC)
“I’m feeling so much better and I’d just like to thank everyone for all the love and support I’ve received and to my Strictly family – feeling much better,” the dancer told host BBC Two Janette Manrara.
Gill and Oakley will be performing a couple’s choice during a Bruno Mars-themed performance on Saturday.
“I’m just so proud and so grateful for Lauren,” Dowden said.
“They’ve worked so hard, and JB’s just been so supportive of me and just knuckled down.”
Dowden also said that Gill and Oakley had been “sending videos and messages” all week with updates on his progress in a WhatsApp chat they titled “Team”, alongside a star emoji.
Host Manrara said it was nice to see Dowden “looking well”.
Janette Manrara said it was nice to see Amy Dowden ‘looking well’ (Ian West/PA)
A BBC spokesperson previously said: “We are all hopeful that Amy will be back to dance with JB next week.”
Dowden returned to the competition this year after undergoing treatment for breast cancer, including having a mastectomy and chemotherapy.
It came after the dancer found a lump in her breast while on her honeymoon in the Maldives with fellow professional dancer Ben Jones.
She was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer and, after treatment, in February announced that tests showed she has “no evidence of disease”.
Dowden documented her experience after seeing the impact on others of her documentary discussing her Crohn’s disease, and how it had helped her “accept” her own condition for the “first time ever”.
She fronted the BBC programme Strictly Amy: Crohn’s And Me, 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.
During the Strictly live tour in 2022, Dowden was admitted to hospital in Manchester after a Crohn’s flare-up.