Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden returned to the BBC show for a night out on Sunday amid her battle with breast cancer.
The 33-year-old professional dancer shared a carousel of pictures from her comeback on Instagram on Sunday, showing her bonding with her co-stars after attending the pre-filming of the results show’s opening number “a few weeks ago.”
In the sweet pictures, Amy beamed alongside her pals Dianne Buswell, Nikita Kuzmin, Katya Jones, Carlos Gu and Nancy
In a caption, the star praised the Strictly Family and wrote: “It’s moments like these that I need right now to escape from my current reality and I’m so grateful to the entire @bbcstrictly for that… Me.” I’m so lucky to be surrounded by so much support.”
Alongside her sweet message to her co-stars, Amy admitted that she “dreams about dancing again every night” and said that watching the show was an “escapism.”
Her pals: Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden returned to the BBC show for a night out on Sunday amid her breast cancer battle (pictured with Nancy Xu, Dianne Buswell, Vito Coppola, Katya Jones and Nikita Kuzmin).
Sweet: The 33-year-old professional dancer shared a carousel of pictures from her comeback on Instagram on Sunday, showing her bonding with her co-stars after attending the pre-tapings of the results show’s opening number “a few weeks ago.” .
An honor: In a caption, the star praised the Strictly Family and wrote: “It’s moments like these that I need right now to escape my current reality and for that I’m so grateful to the entire @bbcstrictly.” ..I’m so lucky to be surrounded by so much support’
Amy looked radiant in the series of pictures from her return, which were from the pre-recorded dance segment of the weekly results show.
In her caption, she wrote: “Tune in tonight for the first results show of the series!” The standard this year is crazy. What two great live shows so far…
“I was lucky enough to be able to attend today’s opening event a few weeks ago and all I can say is: WOW!…
“What another incredible number from @jasongilkison.” It’s moments like these that I need right now to escape from my current reality and for that I’m so grateful to the entire @bbcstrictly. I hope to be able to join the gang again soon…
“There is no textbook or right/wrong way to deal with cancer.” Everyone deals with it correctly in their own way. I’m so lucky to be surrounded by so much support that I don’t take for granted, and days like this keep me going.
“I dream every night of dancing on that dance floor again, but right now I’m the proudest and biggest cheerleader of my fellow pros.” Who’s your favorite so far?! #strictlycomedancing #forevergrateful #strictlyfamily #support’.
Amy was diagnosed with the disease in May and underwent chemotherapy. She said watching the show was a real “escape” from her reality and she was counting down the days until she could return.
Amy recently burst into tears as she shaved her hair after clumps fell out due to chemotherapy. She took the bold step of cutting the rest herself because it’s the only thing she can control.
Aww: Amy looked radiant as she snuggled up to Nikita in the series of pictures from her return, which were from the pre-recorded dance segment of the weekly results show
Sweet: She was seen with Carlos Gu in one of the flashbacks
Together: She thanked her Strictly family for their support
A video posted to her Instagram page shows her loved ones taking turns cutting off strands of her hair before shaving off the rest. She explained: “Taking control – the hardest step yet.” I tried my best to save it…
“I know it’s just hair, but in the last few months I feel like I’ve had so much taken away from me that I don’t feel like Amy anymore…”
“I miss every possible aspect of dancing.” I just wanted to maintain my identity with my hair and tried to convince myself that wouldn’t work. But I would dread the pain of waking up shredding every day.”
She continued: “So far I have not been able to take control of this journey, but as you can see with some of my loved ones, I have mustered the courage and CONTROL…”
“It will take some time to get used to it and learn to love and embrace it, but for now I’m focused – not on the hair I’m losing, but on the hair I’m getting back and dancing happily Tea lover. “Who talks way too fast while rolling every rrrrr who’s still in there, with or without hair!”
Illness: The Strictly favorite was diagnosed with breast cancer in May and began chemotherapy after doctors discovered she was also battling another type of cancer
Looking to the future: The dancer, who was forced to sit out the 2023 series of Strictly, said she wanted to reclaim her identity after missing out on so much of her life as a dancer (pictured on Strictly live in January 2023 Trip)
Amy – who is now halfway through her chemotherapy treatment – added: “Since taking control I feel like I can now see the finish line…”
“That was a hurdle for me that I couldn’t even think about or talk about. I did it and was also halfway through the chemo limit!
I feel empowered and positive! To everyone on their own journey, whatever that may be, I send love, power, strength and courage…
“I found the courage to take this step and I’m proud… (There are some funny before and after videos/reels coming, but I wanted to share the truth and hopefully help others and bring normalcy to a beautiful bald head).”
This came after Amy admitted she had a “breakdown” over her hair loss.
Emotional: Last month, Amy described cutting off her hair as “the hardest step yet” as she posted a heartbreaking video of herself surrounded by loved ones while having her hair cut off