Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden has revealed she no longer feels "emotionally attached" to her body following her most recent mastectomy.
The Welsh dancer, 35, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023, subsequently undergoing chemotherapy and an initial mastectomy.
In November, she announced she would undergo a further mastectomy, clarifying in an Instagram post that this was not a new cancer diagnosis and she anticipated a "straightforward recovery".
Dowden appeared on Channel 4’s Stand Up To Cancer, where she reflected on her previous appearance in 2023, when she spoke with a shaved head during her ongoing treatment for the disease.
She said: “Two years ago, very different story when I was here last.
“I had no hair, I didn’t even recognise myself, actually, but I’m so proud of how far I’ve come.
“At the time I was going through the hardest journey of my life. A cancer diagnosis, it changes you forever.
“I still receive monthly injections on the oncology unit. I’ve been put into menopause because of my hormone-fed cancer.
“I don’t know if I’ll have the honour of being able to become a mum, which I desperately want to be able to…
“Five weeks ago, I had another mastectomy, so I’m no longer emotionally attached to my body, but I am so proud of how far it’s come, and I’m so grateful for another shot at life.”
She added: “A cancer diagnosis, it changes you forever. I’m no longer the person I was, and that’s not by choice.”
Dowden missed out on a celebrity partner on Strictly in 2023 amid her treatment but has since returned to the BBC One dancing show.
The dancer has documented her cancer experience online, and revealed in February 2024 that “no evidence of disease” was found at her latest health check.
She said: “I never thought I was going to get back on the dancefloor. I couldn’t see how I was going to get Amy back again.
“I hated the way I looked. I had no energy and I was scared.
“I was petrified, you know, I used to cry myself to sleep.
“My husband would hear me crying in the shower.
“I just longed for that old Amy back and I know I’m never, ever going to get her back.”
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