Horsham-based female personal trainer, Becky, is a qualified cancer specialist, working with those who are on cancer treatment, recovering from it, and living beyond cancer. Here, she shares her thoughts on the recent BBC documentary, “Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me”…
Before I go any further, I’d like to acknowledge how challenging these kinds of programmes can be for those who have been previously impacted by cancer, particularly if the celebrity is someone you are a fan of, or the experience you’ve had – as a patient or a supporter – closely mirrors theirs in some way. I advise exercising discretion when choosing to watch these kinds of programmes, or engage with any online discourse about them.
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Amy Dowden, a professional dancer on hit BBC show Strictly Come Dancing announced in 2023 that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 32, having also recently got married. The news shocked fans and, throughout her treatment journey, she shared her experience openly via social media. She also invited a film crew to document the process – something that she’d done previously as Amy also has a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease.
I’m a huge Strictly fan, and have been since it first aired 20 years ago. Whilst I adore the glitter and entertainment, I also find the learning and coaching process fascinating to observe, and relish watching it each autumn.
When Amy’s diagnosis was announced, I had everything crossed for her. I was also intrigued to see how she’d get on in terms of fitness, as someone who coaches others and has handled their own cancer rehab. The documentary covers a huge amount of ground in an hour – it’s incredibly honest, and Amy and her supporters did a fantastic job of sharing the process.
Amy’s treatment included surgery – a mastectomy with reconstruction – and chemotherapy – which took place over a period of four months. As her treatment has now ended, Amy was able to share thoughts looking back, as well as footage which was captured at the time – I particularly liked that she acknowledged that she and her husband were “naïve” when she was preparing for surgery.
Her honesty in terms of how she struggled with the decision to undergo chemotherapy (some of her biggest worries were understandably how the treatment would impact her Chron’s, plus her fertility, and the prospect of losing her hair), plus the side effects and recovery are highly admirable.
A lot of what she said throughout was relatable: I found myself nodding furiously when she shared right at the beginning that she chose to go public early on due to fear of someone else revealing the news, and wanting to control the narrative. This happened again when she decided to shave her head mid-chemo. Viewers watched as Amy described repeatedly how important her hair and image are to her – partly due to how tied it is to her identity in terms of her profession and sense of self – but that ultimately she recognised that she could wait and watch as the inevitable happened, kind of torturing herself watching it fall out, or take control of the situation and choose to shave it.
There were some brilliant snippets of information that the wider public might not appreciate throughout the documentary. Amy’s friend, Jenny, who has also been through breast cancer treatment, pointed out correctly that chemotherapy works by destroying bad cells, but damages good cells in the process; and Amy recognised during her treatment that whilst the hair on her scalp had fallen out, she still had eyebrows and eyelashes – not something that happens for everyone; I also appreciated that Amy shared, by way of telling fellow professional dancer, Dianne, that it had taken her two weeks to look at her breast after surgery, and she’d done so with the help of a nurse. This narrative of coming to terms with your body changing is woven throughout, and is something incredibly familiar to many cancer patients, so I thought it was great for that to be heard.
Something I would advise viewers to be seriously cautious about was the depiction of Amy’s return to exercise. I’d like to carefully remind everyone here that this is a demonstration of one person’s experience, and will have been based upon where she started and the treatment she received. Something I found particularly concerning was the fact that she was seen in the early stages performing a plank – I can well believe that this was assessed as being safe for Amy, but for many breast cancer patients this is not the case. What I would like everyone to ensure is that, when you feel ready and able to exercise again, and have permission from your medical team, that you check carefully what you can and cannot do at any given stage, in order to maximise benefit and prevent damage.
Amy is subsequently shown breaking her foot. I vividly remember this news being announced in late 2023, and agree with Amy’s statement shown in the documentary – there’s no real way of knowing whether this happened due to treatment side effects or would have happened anyway. Happily, she has now managed to recover further and was then shown continuing her training and rehab.
Towards the end of the programme, Amy undertakes her first full public performance since her diagnosis, admitting that she was particularly nervous. She recognised that she’d lost, “speed, stamina and flexibility”, plus that her confidence had been knocked. Again, this is hugely relatable for many of us: we find that we have to rediscover movement patterns, and learn a new level of trust in our bodies, which is incredibly difficult.
Amy seems to be on the road to recovery, and has begun the process of participating fully in 2024’s series of Strictly. I’m grateful to her sharing her journey as she has, and hope that the news for her continues to be positive.