Amy Dowden has said it will be “tough” watching JB Gill perform without her this weekend.
The Strictly Come Dancing professional, 34, was replaced by Lauren Oakley in the BBC dance competition after being rushed to hospital with a shin fracture on 2 November.
Gill’s performance on Saturday, 9 November, will coincide with the one year anniversary of Dowden finishing chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, which kept her from the Strictly stage for a year.
Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine, Dowden revealed she had planned a special Strictly performance with Gill to celebrate her anniversary and is devastated it can no longer take place.
“Saturday is going to be tough because I really wanted to be dancing on that floor to show myself how far I’ve come in one year,” she said.
The professional dancer explained she had wanted to dance the samba with her celebrity partner because she felt the “joyful carnival happy dance” was perfect to mark the occasion.
In May 2023, Dowden was diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of stage three breast cancer after finding a lump in her breast the day before her Maldives honeymoon with fellow professional dancer Ben Jones.
She underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy and fertility treatment in those nine months and was eventually told she had “no evidence of disease” in February 2024.
Elsewhere in her chat with Lorraine Kelly, Dowden said:“I am going to do my best not to cry,” as tears filled her eyes. “I am gutted it’s had to end this way,” she added. “I feel I have let JB down.”
Dowden will be replaced by fellow professional dancer Lauren Oakley as Gill’s dance partner for the remainder of the competition. However, she hinted on BBC’s It Takes Two that she hopes to appear back on the Strictly stage before the end of the season.
“Hopefully I will be back dancing, hopefully in a group number by the end of the series,” she said. “Fingers crossed.”
The professional dancer added to Kelly on Thursday, 7 November: “I have had a lot of setbacks. I am used to picking myself back up.”
Dowden has explained the shin injury wasn’t a repeat of any previous injuries or previous treatment for breast cancer and she said she would be JB’s “biggest cheerleader” as he continues with “the amazing Lauren”.
Oakley told Dowden earlier this week: “We’re still a team. Love you. You did the groundwork, I’ll carry your partnership forward and hopefully make you proud.”
