Sam Quek recently shared Amy Dowden’s inspiring message of positivity before she had to withdraw from Strictly Come Dancing.
The 34-year-old professional dancer, who is in remission from breast cancer and has Crohn’s disease, was forced to step down due to a “foot injury” after collapsing backstage last week.
In a heartfelt statement, the Welsh dancer expressed that her “heart was broken” to leave the show, which had helped her “feel like herself again” following her chemotherapy. She also paid tribute to her “perfect partner,” JB Gill.
Quek, 36, revealed that Dowden had offered uplifting words to the audience before one of her last performances with Gill, 37.
The Olympian, who became the latest celebrity to be eliminated after a dance-off against Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe, shared her gratitude to partner Nikita Kuzmin and the Strictly team on Instagram, calling the experience an “amazing dream.”
She penned: “Firstly, I want to thank my teammate, Nikita. As the weeks ticked on, I got to know you on a deeper lever and the way I can sum you up to people who perhaps don't know you is to say that you have a really good heart.
“For me, that's your best quality without a doubt.
“Your beautiful choreograph often deserved a lot more than I was able to deliver in the moment, but never once did you blame me, make me feel responsible or do anything but pick me up and say we go again and that you were proud of my performance. You were the ultimate teammate.”
However, she admitted that Strictly was “tougher than I imagined” and admitted that low scores affected her motivation.
She said: 'Physically, by day, I danced my feet red raw and repeated the weeks routine until my legs couldn't hold me up. By night, ice bathed, massaged and prepared to for the next day by watching my routine over and over.
“Mentally, the process was even more demanding. I missed my 2 year old and 3 year old - all the time! I would often do 10 day stints in a hotel and hearing them ask me to ‘come home now’, was tough.
“But what was more draining was working as hard as I could, sacrificing everything I needed to and still ending up towards the bottom of the leaderboard.
“It saps your motivation and kills your belief, but my family and Nikita were always there to help me push on.”
Yet, it was Dowden’s encouraging words during her own dance-off with Gill two weeks ago that her the strength to keep pushing.
She recalled: “In closing, I want to share with you a little off camera moment that helped put everything into perspective for me, which happened a couple of weeks ago....
“When JB and Amy found themselves in the bottom two, the entire audience were in a state of shock. As the two of them took to the floor to do their dance-off, they weren't greeted with the usual warm applause and support from the crowd, such was the tension, surprise and awkwardness in the studio.
“Amy turned around to the audience and said, ‘Come on folks... it's just a dance-off... it's not a year of chemotherapy!’
“A sobering reminder that there are bigger and more important things going on around the world then Strictly Come Dancing... amongst the glitz, glamour, twirls and lifts you can sometimes forget that.”
Following her post, Dowden herself took the comments and penned: “Beautiful human and a beautiful dancer! Loved this partnership so much”.
Dowden’s celeb partner will now continue the competition with pro Lauren Oakley.
A Strictly spokesperson said: “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.”
