Amy Dowden says she struggled to look at herself in the mirror when she first started losing her hair following her cancer diagnosis.
The professional dancer, 33, who joined the cast of Strictly in 2017, was forced to pull out of the competition earlier this year after she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy.
Appearing on Strictly spin-off It Takes Two on Wednesday night (11 October), the dancer from Caerphilly told the show’s host and fellow dancer Janette Manrara that “no amount of preparation” could have readied her for the rapid hair loss that would follow her chemotherapy treatment.
“I found it really traumatic – I couldn’t even brush my own hair after a while,” she told Manrara.
“So I’d get my husband Ben to do it for me instead.
“I’d gone bald on top and, in the end, I couldn’t even look in the mirror anymore.”
According to the BBC, Dowden was diagnosed with the condition after she first discovered a lump back in April, just one day before she was due to fly to the Maldives for her honeymoon. After undergoing a mastectomy, she was told the tumours had spread.
While Dowden had announced she would not be appearing in a competitive capacity on this year’s Strictly due to her ongoing treatment, she surprised fans during Saturday’s episode (7 October) when the professional dancer arrived on camera to read out the terms and conditions for voting.
Amy Dowden delighted fans when she made a surprise appearance on ‘Strictly’ on Saturday (7 October)— (BBC)
Dowden later told her Instagram followers that she decided to ditch her wig and “brave the bald” just moments before her appearance on the dancing show.
Reflecting on her emotional return to the screen, Dowden wrote in an Instagram post on Sunday morning (8 October) that the decision to remove her long blonde wig and show her bald head was a last-minute choice.
Dowden credited the support of her Strictly cast for giving her the “courage” to “decide last minute to step out and brave the bald”.
The professional dancer is now using her platform to raise awareness of breast cancer— (Instagram via @amy_dowden)
“[This is] why I use my platform to raise awareness and hopefully give others confidence #baldisbeautful,” she wrote of the positive messages she had received overnight from her fans.
“Not saying it was easy and I still miss my long hair dearly but gosh did it feel liberating and it’s breast cancer awareness month which gave me that extra push to do it.”
“Can’t wait to be back there with the Strictly family again soon.”
Meanwhile, fans were moved to tears by Dowden’s decision to appear bald on the show.
“Amy Dowden choosing not to wear a wig on Strictly tonight has just shown every little girl going through chemo that bald is beautiful. What a role model,” wrote one fan on Twitter/X after Dowden’s appearance.
Another fan added: “The winner of this year’s Strictly is Amy Dowden. Brave, inspirational and a beacon of loveliness. You’ve got this Amy.”
Last month, Dowden shared an emotional video of her “loved ones” taking turns to cut off locks of her hair before shaving off the remaining hair.
The dancer told fans that “the hardest step” of her cancer journey was making the decision to “take control” and shave her head.
“This too shall pass,” Dowden wrote.
“I tried my best to save it. I know it’s only hair but these past few months I’ve had what feels like so much taken away from me that has made me not feel like Amy. I’m missing every possible aspect of dancing. I just wanted to keep my identity with my hair and I tried telling myself it wouldn’t go. But I would dread the pain of waking up to the shredding every day.”
