Dianne Buswell has opened up about the arrival of her son as she lifted the lid on her traumatic birth experience. The Strictly Come Dancing star, 37, revealed she underwent an emergency C-section for the birth of her first child. The professional dancer and her partner Joe Sugg met on Strictly in 2018, later welcoming their first child, a baby boy named Bowden, in March 2026.
Pain and Fear of Not Dancing Again
In a candid new interview the Australian-born professional broke her silence on the struggles she faced that left her in unbearable pain. She announced her pregnancy in 2025 and made history as the first professional dancer to take part in the BBC show while pregnant. She competed on Series 23 with actor Stefan Dennis before withdrawing after four weeks due to the actor sustaining a calf injury.
Dianne told the Oxydise podcast how she was left struggling to sit up after undergoing the procedure. Speaking on the podcast, the star said: “I just burst into tears. The pain of having to sit up and trying to manoeuvre myself out of bed was just unbearable. My number one thing is how am I gonna recover and am I going to be able to dance again.”
Baby Bowden's Name and Updates
The dancer revealed she had given birth earlier this year and regularly shares updates with her social media followers about life as a new mum. At the time of her baby's birth she shared the reasoning behind his name. She wrote: “Never felt a love like it Baby Bowden Mark Richard Sugg. 16/03/26.” The name Bowden comes from the village that Joe and his sister Zoe grew up in.
