Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden is feeling “under the weather” just a few days ahead of the next live show.
The dancer, 35, seemed to be on the verge of losing her voice when she appeared on spin-off show It Takes Two on Thursday (2 October) evening with her celebrity partner Thomas Skinner.
It Takes Two host and former Strictly pro Janette Manrara acknowledged her colleague’s illness, asking viewers to “excuse” her hoarse voice during the interview.
“Amy, I know you’re a little bit under the weather, so excuse Amy today,” she said, before revealing that Skinner had made her “a beautiful drink to help [her] out” ahead of their return to the ballroom.
The concoction contained “turmeric, ginger [and] pepper”, Dowden revealed, as Manrara promised: “I won’t make you talk too much.”
Despite her sore throat, Dowden was still able to praise her partner’s performance in the first live show of the season, telling Manrara that it had been “so rewarding” to see her partner “transform” and grow in confidence.
The pair danced a paso doble to Hotei’s “Battle Without Honour or Humanity” during Saturday's (27 September) show and picked up 12 points from the judging panel.
Judge Craig Revel Horwood was characteristically scathing, describing Skinner’s moves as “very square, flat and stumpy” and claiming it was “more tin soldier than matador”.
Their next routine will be a salsa to “Bonkers” by Dizzee Rascal and Armand van Helden.
Dowden has had to take some time away from Strictly in recent years. In 2023, she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy. She later learned that the tumours had spread and that she would have to undergo a course of chemotherapy, meaning she couldn’t take part in that year’s edition of the show.
Last year, she was paired up with JLS star JB Gill, but was forced to drop out of the competition after sustaining a stress fracture.
Skinner proved to be a divisive addition to the Strictly line-up when he was announced as a contestant over the summer.
The former Apprentice contestant has previously stoked controversy for sharing photos of himself wearing a red “Maga” cap and meeting up with JD Vance during the US vice-president’s trip to Britain.
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