‘I had no choice’: Amy Dowden discusses having a mastectomy after breast cancer diagnosis

Professional dancer was diagnosed with grade three breast cancer earlier this year

Amy Dowden has said she showed her reconstructed breast to her former Strictly Come Dancing co-star Sara Davies, after undergoing a mastectomy to treat breast cancer.

The professional dancer revealed that Davies was helping to adminiser an injection as she continues to recover from her operation, which took place two weeks ago.

Dowden, 32, also spoke about her surgery in more detail via her Instagram Stories and said she had “no choice” but to undergo a full mastectomy because she had “more than one tumour”.

In May, the TV star revealed she had been diagnosed with grade three breast cancer, which is the most aggressive grade, but doctors caught it early. She also suffers from Crohn’s disease and has been praised for raising awareness of the condition.

She posted an Instagram Story with Davies on Monday (26 June) and explained that she had to give herself a new injection using a syringe rather than a pen, and Davies was there to help her.

“I’ve not done it on my own before so guess who’s going to do it with me?” she said, before gesturing towards Davies, who smiled at the camera. “You don’t mind, do you? Also, what did I show you last night?”

Davies replied: “I got to see the new boob. It’s a nice boob!” Amy laughed as she said that Davis suggested she should “get the other one done”.

“I just said, that is one good-looking boob!” the former Dragon’s Den star clarified. “Marvellous job. Fantastic!”

Dowden added: “Other than the nipple, you wouldn’t really know, would you?”

Dowden on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ in 2021 with McFly’s Tom Fletcher (BBC/Guy Levy)

In another video, the dancer explained that after her mastectomy, doctors were able to “put the implant in” her breast rather than an “expander” to help stretch the skin for a later surgery.

“For me, it’s a better option because [it means] no more surgery. I woke up and they’d managed to put the implant in, so I have had reconstruction,” she told fans.

“I believe later on you can have the nipple tattooed – not sure if I’m gonna do that yet.”

Dowden’s post-surgery recovery comes as the Duchess of York is recuperating from her own mastectomy, after it was confirmed this week that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Sarah Ferguson’s spokesperson said on Sunday (25 June) that the duchess was “advised she needed to undergo surgery which has taken place successfully” and that she is “now recuperating with her family”.

Britain Sarah Ferguson (Invision)

She spoke about her diagnosis in the latest episode of her podcast with businesswoman Sarah Thomson and urged everyone listening to “go and get checked… Don’t wait.”

Dowden revealed her diagnosis in an interview with Hello! magazine and said she has “got a really good chance of getting back out on the dance floor as soon as possible”.

She added that she hopes to raise awareness around breast cancer alongside her existing work on Crohn’s, which is a lifelong disease where parts of the digestive system become inflamed. In 2020, she released a BBC documentary about living with the disease titled Strictly Amy: Crohn’s and Me.

After her surgery, Dowden said she was waiting to find out if she needs to have just radiotherapy or additional chemotherapy. She told The Mirror that Strictly was “leaving the door open” if she can return to the show.

“If I only have radiotherapy, I’ll be back on Strictly this season,” she said. “Once radiotherapy is done there’ll be nothing to stop me, there’s no pressure but Strictly is leaving the door open. It’s having something to work towards.”

Dowden is married to her long-term partner Benjamin Jones, who is also a professional dancer. The couple wed in 2022, after having to reschedule their wedding due to the Covid pandemic.