Amy Dowden shares emotional admission after Strictly star makes TV history following cancer battle

The Strictly Come Dancing stars shared the victory with actor Brian Conley and his daughter, comedian Lucy Conley, marking the first time in the programme’s history that two pairs have managed to evade capture entirely.

For the Welsh dancer, however, the achievement carried particular significance following a turbulent few years dominated by her health.

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“Cancer took a lot away from me in the last two years, but I truly feel I’ve got my confidence back, and this has given me the belief I can go on to achieve anything,” she said.

“We got on to that plane, I was just like, ‘celebrate!’ I grabbed the champagne!”

Ms Dowden was diagnosed with grade three breast cancer in May 2023 at the age of 32, having discovered a lump the day before her honeymoon.

Her treatment included chemotherapy and two mastectomies, and she has also spoken publicly about being put into early menopause and undergoing fertility treatment.

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CHANNEL 4

She documented her experience in the BBC documentary Strictly Amy: Cancer And Me.

The dancer, who also lives with Crohn’s disease, returned to the Strictly ballroom in 2025 and is due back on the BBC programme this autumn.

Celebrity Hunted, which raises money for Stand Up To Cancer, tasks celebrities with going on the run from a specialist team of hunters equipped with CCTV access, helicopters, drones, dogs and advanced cyber forensic technology.

Ms Dowden and Mr Gu spent two weeks attempting to evade the team, with neither dancer backed to succeed by their Strictly colleagues.

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BBC

Ms Dowden was also reunited with Brian Conley during the series, having previously been partnered with the actor on Strictly in 2017.

The tense final episode culminated with both pairs boarding an extraction plane from a beach in north Wales, narrowly escaping the hunters’ pursuit.

Mr Conley described the triumph as “amazing”, though he expressed a wish that his eldest daughter Amy and wife Anne-Marie could have shared the moment with them.

“We thought we’re just gonna have fun and as long as we get a few days under our belt, that would be OK. To win is amazing,” he said.

His daughter Lucy recalled the dramatic final moments in the sand dunes before their dash to the aircraft.

“Just before we ran to the plane, we’re in the sand dunes and dad’s like, ‘There’s no way I’ll win.

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“They’ll pick me off, I’m an old man, you’ve got to do this for us’,” she said.

She described the feeling of making it aboard as “pure joy and shock”, adding that nobody who knew about their participation had expected them to succeed.