Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden has extended a warm invitation to fellow dancer Carlos Gu to officially move in with her. As they gear up for their UK tour ‘Reborn’ after the conclusion of Strictly 2024, Amy, 34, with the help of builders, is making room for Carlos, 32, in her Midlands home.
Touching on her Strictly experience and the reasons behind the pair’s joint venture, Amy revealed: “Carlos is the perfect height for me. [He is the] same height as my husband, who was my dance partner. It is important.”
Delving into the deeply personal significance of their tour’s name, Amy reflected on feeling “reborn” after her battle with stage three breast cancer. With tests in February indicating “no evidence of disease”, the Welsh dancer has joyfully returned to the dance floor.
She added to The Guardian: “We both feel reborn. Me after my cancer journey and him after moving to the UK and finally being able to – he feels – be true to himself.”
Amy highlighted the liberating experience Carlos has found in the UK, adding: “Being gay, he’s accepted in the UK, and here he can wear the clothes he wants, be the Carlos Gu that he had been holding back. We’ve both got a strong story to tell.”
Carlos, already familiar with Amy’s household from previous Christmas stays, recently expressed his fondness for UK festivities.
Speaking on BBC Radio Manchester, he said: “In China, we don’t really spend Christmas. In the past three years, I wasn’t really spending because I didn’t really understand how Christmas [is] like here.
“But then Amy invited me last year, I said ‘definitely’ and then the family – we spent five days together. And her mum, her dad and her sister, it’s just like family to me. We were playing the games, it was like a proper, best Christmas I ever had.”
This new chapter is sure to be welcomed by the pair, who each suffered setbacks during Strictly Come Dancing 2024.
For the first time in two years, Carlos found himself without a dance partner, and Amy’s journey with JB Gill ended prematurely when she collapsed backstage due to an injury in week six.
Strictly’s Lauren Oakley stepped in to continue training the JLS star and together they reached the finals.
Reflecting on having to withdraw from the competition, Amy admitted she was “devastated” and is hoping things will be different should she be invited back this year.
“Dance is my happy place. And hopefully Strictly will have me back next year,” she added. “After having to pull out this year, I still haven’t had that year of being back dancing and feeling truly like Amy again.”