Amy Dowden: I was jealous when I saw people share 2023 highlights

Amy Dowden has said she felt “jealous” when she saw people sharing their highlights of 2023, after she battled through a year with a mastectomy, chemotherapy and fertility treatment.

The professional dancer, who joined Strictly in 2017, announced she had been diagnosed with stage three cancer in May after finding a lump in her breast in April, the day before going to the Maldives on her honeymoon with fellow professional dancer Ben Jones.

She missed out on competing on the show this year because of her treatment, and a planned dance about her cancer treatment had to be shelved after she broke her foot.

However, she did make an appearance during the final to take part in a dance while still in her boot as her foot heals.

She told ITV’s Lorraine: “On New Year’s Eve, when you wake up, and you see everyone’s posts about a year, I was actually quite bitter.

“At the beginning of the year I had so many lovely plans. And I was on the Strictly arena tour and had a honeymoon planned with my husband.

“And within a day, it doesn’t just change for during the treatment and surgery, it changes forever to be honest, because it has changed me as a person.

“I looked back and I did find some amazing opportunities that I had but also, when I looked back, I thought, I’ve had cancer, I’ve lost my hair, I’ve lost my boob, I’ve had sepsis, and I went into septic shock and I’ve had blood clots, I broke my foot. Then you’re watching everybody else share these lovely photos and reels and I was a bit jealous.”

Looking ahead to 2024, she said she just wants to get back to dancing.

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

Mulling over the celebrities she would like to be paired with to ensure a victory, she suggested Wolverine star Hugh Jackman, GMB’s Ben Shephard or “a fellow Welshie like Luke Evans”.