Strictly's Amy Dowden shares what gave her confidence to tell cancer story

What did you miss?

Amy Dowden has said she felt brave enough to begin filming her breast cancer journey just six days after diagnosis because she had seen how many people had been helped by her Crohn's disease documentary.

The Strictly Come Dancing pro dancer received the shock news that she had breast cancer aged just 32 in May 2023 and has made a BBC documentary about her treatment and recovery that she hopes will encourage others to check themselves.

The Strictly Come Dancing star's documentary, Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me, is due to air on BBC One on Monday, telling the story of everything she has been through before she gets back on the dancefloor for the new series of Strictly in September.

Dowden spoke to The One Show about writing her autobiography during her time off sick from Strictly, saying it was "like therapy".

Speaking to The One Show, Dowden also admitted it had been a hard decision to start filming her cancer journey so quickly but explained a previous documentary she had made about living with Crohn's disease had helped her make her mind up.

What, how, and why?

She said: "Because I'd done my Crohn's documentary before and I saw the impact it had for the Crohn's and colitis community - raising awareness, breaking down the stigma.

"I don't think if it wasn't for that, I would have had the confidence to do it, but I saw the rewards from that and I was trying to turn such a negative, horrible time into some sort of positive, if I could save just one life by people checking themselves, because if you're not checking yourself then who is, then something good would have come out of it."

Dowden was unable to compete in last year's Strictly as she was still recovering from treatment and a broken foot, but she wrote her autobiography Dancing in the Rain during her time off which she explained had helped her to cope.

"It was like therapy for me," she said. "At a time when Strictly was taken away from me because I couldn't dance, I had to process everything. I had to go back into my childhood and look at things with my Crohn's battle that I'd put to one side. At such a low point to really have to dig deep and process everything and put it down, I just really hope it helps others."

Dowden also teased that the book would contain a surprising story about turning down a place in the pro Strictly cast, before agreeing to join in 2017 - but said fans would have to read her book to find out why.

She said: "I'm the first ever professional dancer to do that, but it all worked out in the end."

What else happened on The One Show?

BBC Sport presenter Gabby Logan joined Alex Jones as Tuesday's One Show host fresh from her role heading up the BBC's Paris Olympics coverage.

As she spoke to Tanni Grey-Thompson about the forthcoming Paralympics and whether the opening ceremony was likely to be as unusual as the Olympic one, Logan shared her "diplomatic" response to any French people who had asked her whether she had enjoyed the opening of the games.

Logan said: "What was important for that opening ceremony was did the Parisiennes enjoy it. I always feel an opening ceremony should reflect the country it's in.

"French people kept coming up to me afterwards and saying, did you enjoy it, and I said, it's not about me, did you enjoy it? Which is a good way of being diplomatic. They would say yes, we loved it. I watched the London opening ceremony with one of my colleagues from America who didn't get it. They didn't enjoy it."

The One Show airs on BBC One at 7pm on weekdays.

Read more: Strictly Come Dancing

• Les Dennis compares 'hardest' show Strictly to Black Swan

• 'Celebrity Masterchef just showed Strictly Come Dancing how to do a lineup'

• Edith Bowman's mum froze her out for a week for turning down Strictly

This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/amy-dowden-cancer-documentary-crohns-strictly-192212387.html