Amy Dowden quits entire series of Strictly Come Dancing after horror injury

In a turn of events on Strictly Come Dancing, professional dancer Amy Dowden has had to unfortunately exit the competition due to a broken foot. Amy, who is also recovering from breast cancer, sustained the injury prior to the upcoming show on 26 October.

Medical advice now requires her to take an open-ended break for her foot to heal, resulting in her dance partner JB Gill partnering up with Lauren Oakley for the remainder of the series.

A spokesperson for Strictly Come Dancing issued a statement saying: "Sadly, Amy Dowden MBE will not be partaking in the rest of the competition this year. Whilst Amy focuses on her recovery following a foot injury, fellow professional dancer, Lauren Oakley, will step in as JB's dance partner. The health and wellbeing of everyone involved in Strictly are always the utmost priority. The whole Strictly family sends Amy love and well wishes."

Her manager Andrew Wilson shared that Amy was heartbroken over having to leave the popular series, particularly after missing last year's run owing to chemotherapy for cancer. Nonetheless, he highlighted that a full recovery is expected in the upcoming weeks.

"Amy is hoping to be able to dance again on Strictly before the end of the series," he conveyed. "It is a different injury to the one she had a year ago. It's the same foot but a different bone. It's just terribly bad luck", reports the Mirror.

He added, "She did it during training, it was one of those things, nobody's fault, but it got worse over the next few days."

Millions tuned in to see Amy Dowden cheer on JB from the studio audience on Saturday. Andrew remarked, "With this injury, there is no outward sign, she is ok to walk around, but she can't wear heels."

On 26 October, after performing in the Halloween special with JB, Amy required medical attention, leading Tess Daly to announce that Amy would be absent from Sunday's results show due to illness.

It was later confirmed that Lauren, who didn't have a celebrity partner this year, would pair up with JB for one week. On Saturday, Amy was visibly moved as JB and Lauren performed the Couple's Choice routine she choreographed, which earned JB his first tens of the series.

For icons week, JB and Lauren, aged 33, danced to a medley of Bruno Mars hits, and following their performance, an emotional Amy, fighting back tears, scored them 39 points. She expressed her gratitude to Lauren for stepping in and shared with JB, "I wish I was there with you, you were amazing!"

Amy has faced numerous health challenges; she has battled Crohn's disease since childhood and was diagnosed with breast cancer at just 32, shortly before her honeymoon.

Despite undergoing treatment throughout 2023, she encountered another hurdle with a broken foot last November. Amy has often said that her determination to return to Strictly Come Dancing greatly aided her recovery from cancer treatment.

Fans were overjoyed to see her return to the show, and when she had to take a break on Saturday, she received an outpouring of support. One fan commented: "I adore Amy she deserves the world and more," while another shared: "Seeing Amy cry has made me cry. She should've been on that dance floor."

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