Amy Dowden

Amy Dowden (born 10 August 1990) is a Welsh professional ballroom and Latin American dancer from Caerphilly, Wales, best known for her appearances on the BBC One television show Strictly Come Dancing.

They were eliminated in week 6 of the competition, finishing in 11th place.

She danced with CBeebies presenter George Webster for the 2022 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special.

Dowden joined the series in 2017, and in 2019, she was a finalist in the seventeenth series with TV presenter Karim Zeroual.

Dowden and her partner Ben Jones are former British National Latin Dance Champions.

She has the Guinness World Record for the most back-Charleston kick-steps in 30 seconds (2022).

She has a twin sister and an older brother.

Dowden was born in Caerphilly, Wales and began dancing at the age of eight.

Alongside her partner Ben Jones, she became British Open Latin Dance Champion in 2017, and the couple were the first all-British pair to win the championships in over 30 years.

Other successes include becoming British Dance Federation Champions, English Closed Champions and Welsh Closed and Open Champions.

Dowden is also a four-time British National Finalist, and a World Championship semi-finalist, and she remains one of the highest-ranking Ballroom and Latin American professional dancers in the UK.

Dowden is the first Welsh professional to take part in the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing series.

Highest and Lowest Scoring Per Dance

In 2017, Dowden appeared as a professional dancer in the fifteenth series, partnered with comedian Brian Conley.

They made it to week 5 of the competition.

Dowden returned for her second series in 2018 where she was partnered with Danny John-Jules.

The couple were awarded the first 10 score of the series by Darcey Bussell for their Jive to "Flip, Flop and Fly" in week 5.

They were eliminated in week 8 after losing a dance-off to Graeme Swann and Oti Mabuse; their elimination came days after controversial bullying allegations, with tabloids reporting that John-Jules had reduced Dowden to tears.

Dowden has also taken part in the Strictly Come Dancing Live! tour since 2018.

In 2019, Dowden appeared as a professional dancer in the seventeenth series of the show, partnered with CBBC presenter Karim Zeroual.

The pair received the first perfect 40 of the series for their Jive in week 11.

In the eighteenth series, Dowden partnered with television presenter JJ Chalmers.

They finished in 6th place, reaching musical week.

The scores for this series were out of 30.

In the nineteenth series, Dowden partnered with musician Tom Fletcher.

On 26 September 2021, it was announced that both had contracted COVID-19 and would miss the following week's show.

On 21 November 2021, in week 9 of the competition, they were the eighth couple to be eliminated, after a dance-off against Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu.

In the twentieth series, Dowden partnered EastEnders actor James Bye.

In 2019, Dowden headlined her own tour, 'Here Come The Girls', with fellow professional dancers Dianne Buswell and Chloe Hewitt.

In May 2019, she spoke out about the effect the condition has had on her career as a professional dancer.

In 2020, she performed with a celebrity partner for the first time on tour, her 2019 partner Karim Zeroual.

Dowden announced her appearance with Jones at the 2022 'Dancing With The Stars Weekend' at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport.

Dowden is married to Ben Jones, her professional dance partner, and together they run the Art in Motion dance school in Cradley Heath, West Midlands.

Dowden has suffered from Crohn's disease since she was a child.

In October 2020, the BBC aired a documentary about Dowden's experiences of living with the condition.

The documentary won a BAFTA Cymru award.

In May 2023, Dowden announced she had been diagnosed with grade III breast cancer.

She underwent a mastectomy.

In July of that year, Dowden revealed that she had received a second diagnosis of "another type of cancer", leaving her requiring chemotherapy and unable to take part in Series 21 of Strictly Come Dancing later that year.

In August 2023, Dowden announced that she had contracted sepsis after finishing her first round of chemotherapy.