Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden has revealed she was scared celebrities would not want to dance with her because of her Crohn's disease, a condition she initially kept secret early in her career.
The Welsh dancer, who joined the BBC One show in 2017, has been partnered with celebrities including Brian Conley, Tom Fletcher and Tom Skinner. This year she was paired with celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton, but the couple were the first to be eliminated from the series.
Amy's Crohn's Diagnosis and Career Fears
Speaking on The Lewis Nicholls Show on YouTube, the 36-year-old admitted she was scared to tell anybody about the condition at first. She explained that choreographers and partners viewed her as a "risk" who might miss work during flare-ups.
Amy said: "I was scared celebrities would not want to dance with me because of it. And I really wanted to make my name as a dancer. But looking back, I was so selfish and silly, and I find it so important nowadays to use my platform and raise awareness in the right way."
She added: "For two years I didn't help anybody because I wanted to become Amy the dancer."
Health Battles and Raising Awareness
Crohn's disease is a chronic condition that causes inflammation in the digestive system, with symptoms including abdominal pain, diarrhoea and fatigue. Amy has also experienced severe flare-ups that have required hospital treatment.
Her health struggles also include a cancer diagnosis, which forced her to miss the 2023 series while undergoing breast cancer treatment. In 2025, she was awarded an MBE in recognition of her services to dance and her work raising awareness of Crohn's disease.
Return to Strictly and Elimination
Despite being voted off the show, Amy made an emotional return to Strictly at the weekend to replace Delta Goodrem, who pulled out of Icons Week due to a rib injury, with the news confirmed by Lorraine Kelly.
After her initial exit, former Strictly professional Brendan Cole told Sky Vegas that she hadn't "been doing a very good job for the last few years" on the programme.
Catch Amy on Celebrity Catchphrase on Sunday, October 25, on ITV and ITVX at 7pm.
