BBC Strictly star Amy Dowden reveals she suffers ‘black outs’ in terrifying health update: ‘My body can’t control it’
Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden has revealed she experiences blackouts due to the excruciating pain caused by her Crohn’s disease.
Speaking on Aimee Fuller’s Monday Mile podcast, the 34-year-old professional dancer detailed how the inflammatory bowel condition can lead to her losing consciousness multiple times.
The Welsh dancer shared that while many of her severe symptoms are now under control, Crohn’s disease remains a chronic illness she will live with for the rest of her life.
In a striking comparison to childbirth, Dowden explained the severity of her Crohn’s-related pain.
“Which if you think, a woman is designed for childbirth, you don’t pass out during childbirth, I can have four to five black outs, because the pain is that much that my body can’t control it,” she told the podcast.
The Caerphilly-born dancer’s has suffered with the condition since childhood, which affects approximately one in every 650 people in the UK.
Dowden detailed her personal symptoms of Crohn’s disease, which include “severe vomiting, constipation, pain, which is excruciating pain, which makes me pass out”.
As well as the terrifying black outs, the dancer also experiences a range of other ailments across her body despite the care she receives to mitigate it.
“I get swollen eyes, inflammation to my joints, my skin, but I’m very very lucky that I work with the most incredible team and a lot of my severe symptoms are now under control and in remission,” she explained.
Despite her condition, Dowden has pursued a glittering dance career and joined Strictly Come Dancing in 2017 for its 15th series.
She made it to the show grand final during the 2019 series alongside TV presenter Karim Zeroual, but fell short of claiming the Glitterball trophy to fan-favourite pair Oti Mabuse and Kelvin Fletcher.
However, tragedy struck when Dowden was diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer in May 2023 – forcing her to miss the Strictly series that year as she battled the disease.
The Welsh dancer bravely faced chemotherapy, a mastectomy, fertility treatment and a near-death brush with sepsis all while dealing with Crohn’s disease.
In February 2024, Dowden announced the joyous news that scans showed there was “no evidence” of her breast cancer remaining and she was intending to return to Strictly as soon as she could.
True to her word, the 34-year-old took to the iconic Strictly ballroom once more alongside new celeb dance partner and former JLS star JB Gill.
They were progressing well in the competition until Dowden collapsed backstage following she and Gill’s performance during Halloween Week.
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She was rushed to Barnet Hospital by ambulance, which her spokesman described as a “precaution” after the star was reportedly “feeling unwell”.
Dowden was soon back on her feet but was forced to pull out of the competition altogether after suffering an additional ankle injury.
Lauren Oakley replaced her as Gill’s partner and the pair danced their way to the 2024 final.