She had a hugely successful end to 2019 after reaching the final of Strictly Come Dancing alongside partner Karim Zeroual, and now Amy Dowden is set for an even bigger 2020. Along with joining the other stars of Strictly for the UK wide tour, the professional dancer is focussing on the next special chapter of her life - her wedding to fiancé Ben Jones.
In an exclusive shoot with HELLO! back in November, Amy revealed that although she still had wedding prep left to do, she was fully focused on the show. She said at the time: "I made sure most of the wedding plans were done before Strictly started but right now I'm so absorbed with the show."
WATCH: HELLO! also caught up with Strictly's Mike and Katya at the tour rehearsals
Amy and her fiance Ben are set to wed this year
But now, it seems Amy is back in wedding mode. Speaking backstage at the Strictly tour rehearsals this month, Amy told HELLO!: "I'm still just as busy, but I've got an amazing group of friends and family and a fiancé around me, a twin sister who's really getting stuck in, it's really exciting. There's no stress, at the end of the day it's a celebration and a really good party hopefully."
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Before the big day, however, Amy has a tour to do. Speaking with her partner Karim, Amy also told HELLO! how much she was looking forward to the tour, which starts on 16 January: "It's my first time on tour with a celebrity partner so I'm really excited for that. We just have so much fun and it's going to be so nice to go round the country and show everybody our love for dance and how much fun we're having."
Karim and Amy are gearing up for the Strictly tour
And it seems that Amy and Karim built up such a close bond during the show, that Amy added the CBBC presenter to the wedding guest list. "We'll definitely be meeting up [after the tour] and Karim's coming to the wedding as well," she said. Karim added: "Definitely, I'm coming to the wedding and I want to come and meet all the kids at her dance school as well as because they've supported us the whole way."
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Amy's fiancé Ben Jones, who’s also a professional dancer, popped the question on New Year's Eve 2018 at a party surrounded by her family and friends. Although it is not known how long the couple have been together, they were once crowned the British National Champions. Amy, who joined Strictly in 2017, is also one of the highest-ranking Ballroom and Latin American professional dancers in the UK.
To read the full interview, pick up a copy of this week's HELLO! magazine, out now.
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