Strictly Come Dancing favourite Amy Dowden has accepted being made an MBE for her services to Crohn’s disease “on behalf” of those who live with the incurable inflammatory bowel disease.
While 33-year-old Welsh professional dancer is known for her sunny personality and dazzling dance moves while competing on BBC’s Strictly, it has been her candid openness about her health struggles that has brought her even closer to viewers at home.
As an advocate and ambassador for the charity Crohn’s & Colitis UK, she has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours for her services to fundraising and raising awareness of the disease.
The dancer from Caerphilly told the PA news agency: “I am still in shock, but so thrilled to be made a Member of the Order of the British Empire, it is beyond my wildest dreams.
“I accept it on behalf of all those who live with Crohn’s disease, and will continue campaigning to raise awareness for and research into this terrible chronic illness.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the wonderful NHS staff who have helped me over the years and Crohn’s & Colitis UK who do so much to support fellow sufferers.”
The news comes just days after Strictly announced its cast of professional dancers for 2024, with Dowden back on the lineup.
Dowden, who was too ill to compete in last season’s show as she underwent treatment for stage three breast cancer, celebrated the news following the BBC’s official announcement, telling her Instagram followers that she cannot wait to be back doing what she loves the most: dancing.
She first found a lump in her breast the day before going to the Maldives on her honeymoon with fellow professional dancer Ben Jones and was subsequently diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. She recently finished chemotherapy and tests show she has “no evidence of disease”.
In 2019, Dowden revealed she was suffering from Crohn’s disease, and fronted the BBC programme Strictly Amy: Crohn’s And Me, in which she spoke about her battle with the condition and met other people with Crohn’s to hear about their experiences.
In January 2022 she was admitted to hospital in Manchester following a Crohn’s flare-up while on the Strictly live tour.
She had previously suffered a flare-up in November 2021, shortly after the filming of Strictly Come Dancing, when she briefly moved in with her celebrity partner, McFly star Tom Fletcher, and his wife Giovanna, while her husband was away.
Crohn’s is described by the NHS as a lifelong condition in which parts of the digestive system become inflamed. People with the disease commonly experience phases of intense abdominal pain, severe vomiting, exhaustion and bloody diarrhoea, among other symptoms.
With additional reporting from PA.
