Strictly stars came to help Amy Dowden on Dare to Dance "straight away"
"They want to do all they could to help me."
Amy Dowden is back for a second season of Dare to Dance on BBC One – and she will be helped by some familiar faces along the way.
Days into filming the series, Dowden was diagnosed with breast cancer, but having met all the contributors and teaching them their first lesson, she knew the show must go on.
As will be seen in the series, Amy calls on the help of her Strictly Come Dancing family, with the likes of Dianne Buswell, Graziano Di Prima and Oti Mabuse all helping out where they can.
"We started filming, I met the contributors, and I taught them their first steps and then obviously, unfortunately, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, but I was so keen to keep the series going," Amy told RadioTimes.com and other press.
In the four-part series, viewers will see Amy meet some incredible people from across Wales – including a young woman who gave up dancing when she started to lose her sight and lost her confidence, a firefighter who harbours a secret love of dance, two friends preparing to dance at a big Windrush Day celebration, and a Wrexham FC obsessed couple who have brought forward their wedding due to a cancer diagnosis.
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As the news came of her diagnosis, Amy "wanted to keep every part of normality" for her, adding "It was my escapism really from reality.
"After my mastectomy we called upon the help of my fellow Strictly friends, my Strictly family – Dianne Buswell, Graziano Di Prima, Oti Mabuse, Carlos Gu. I called them and they were like, straight away, they wanted to do all they could to help me. And I think it added [to it] and I think the contributors loved the surprise of them coming in."
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Dowden was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2023 and later confirmed that unfortunately she wouldn't be partnered with a celebrity on last year's Strictly.
Despite not being part of the show's main line-up, Dowden still reunited with her fellow Strictly pros and delighted fans with a cameo during the show's final dance in December.
Dare to Dance returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer next month.
Looking for something to watch in the meantime? Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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