Over the past few months, Amy Dowden has been sharing her journey with cancer with her fans – and has revealed how blown away she is with all the support, including her Strictly Come Dancing family.
Last month, just days before the Strictly launch, the professional dancer invited close friends and family to help shave her head. On the day, fellow pros Katya Jones, Carlos Gu and Dianne Buswell watched on FaceTime where they offered additional support.
© InstagramIn a chat with The Mirror, Amy revealed how both Katya and Carlos have been making secret hand gestures on the show to let her know she was in their thoughts. And in solidarity with Amy, Chinese dancer Carlos offered to shave his own head too.
"Carlos was crying when I showed him, he wants to shave his head, too," she shared. "He's adamant, and that he’s getting a tattoo, a breast cancer one, but I've told him he's not allowed to shave his head, he's on Strictly!"
Speaking about the process of shaving her head, Amy said: "It was tough, but I felt empowered. This too will pass, in a couple of months my hair will start to grow back.
"I'm not the only person going through this. And there is nothing wrong with a shaved head, you can be beautiful and bald."
The 33-year-old has been keeping fans in the loop about her illness and treatment. She bravely spoke about her decision to shave her head, explaining it was the most difficult part of her diagnosis so far. Watch Amy's emotional video of her shaving her head below...
"Taking control - The hardest step so far. I tried my best to save it. I know it’s only hair but these past few months I’ve had what feels like so much taken away from me that has made me not feel like Amy.
"I'm missing every possible aspect of dancing. I just wanted to keep my identity with my hair and I tried telling myself it wouldn't go. But I would dread the pain of waking up to the shredding every day."
Keeping positive, Amy added: "I've not been able to take control of this journey so far, but as you can see with some of my loved ones I took the courage and CONTROL.
"It's going to take some time to get use to and learn to love and embrace but, I'm now focussing - not on the hair I'm losing but the hair I'm going to get back and the happy dancing, tea lover who talks way to fast whilst rolling every rrrrr who is still there inside with or without hair!"
