Amy Dowden reveals she had gut feeling about her cancer on Maldives honeymoon but did not want to tell husband Ben Jones

By William On Oct 20, 2023

Amy Dowden has revealed she had feelings about her cancer diagnosis while on honeymoon in the Maldives, but didn’t want to tell her husband Ben Jones.

The Strictly Come Dancing pro, 33, told Loose Women on Friday that she didn’t tell her partner because she feared he wouldn’t want to go on the trip.

Amy said she found a lump in her right breast in April, the day before she and her husband left for their honeymoon after getting married last July.

The dancer was first diagnosed with aggressive stage three breast cancer in May.

Amy said that after she found it, she knew she had cancer because her mother was also diagnosed with the disease in her 50s after a mammogram.

Shocking: Amy Dowden, 33, revealed she had feelings about her cancer diagnosis while on honeymoon in the Maldives but didn’t want to tell husband Ben Jones

Newlyweds: The Strictly Come Dancing pro told Loose Women on Friday she didn’t tell her partner for fear he wouldn’t want to go on the trip

Brave: Amy said she found a lump in her right breast in April, the day before she and her husband jetted off for their honeymoon after getting married last July

Speaking to the panel – Jane Moore, Denise Welch, Judy Love and Nadia Savalha – Amy said: ‘I knew it. My mom had breast cancer, but hers was picked up on a mammogram and she didn’t feel it, it was discovered on her first mammogram.

“I didn’t tell my husband Ben.” I went on my honeymoon and every day you put suntan lotion on and I felt it. I just had this feeling.’

Explaining why she didn’t want to tell him at first, Amy said: ‘Well, he wouldn’t go on his honeymoon! And I really wanted this honeymoon, for a break… What could we do?’

Detailing what happened when they got back, Amy shared: “I went in for an ultrasound and I had already googled what it looked like and I could see it, and I could just tell.

“Suddenly there’s a breast care nurse with me and I called my sister and I was in floods of tears and she was saying ‘We don’t know’ and I said ‘Don’t tell Ben I don’t know’ I want you to panic Ben.’

When she was diagnosed, the star explained that after being told she had cancer, the first question was whether she had any plans for children.

The star and her new husband haven’t had that conversation yet, but it was always on her agenda.

She said: “I could tell by the breast care nurses, who are just amazing.

Adorable: Amy said after finding him she knew she had cancer because her mother was also diagnosed with the disease in her 50s after a mammogram

Speaking to the panel – Jane Moore, Denise Welch, Judy Love and Nadia Savalha – Amy said: ‘I knew it. My mom had breast cancer, but hers was found on a mammogram.

In tears: Amy used her love of Strictly to motivate her to stay strong and look forward to the future

Amy said: “I didn’t tell my husband Ben. I went on my honeymoon and every day you put suntan lotion on and I felt it. I just had this feeling”

Interview: Detailing what happened when they got back, Amy shared: “I went in for an ultrasound and I had already googled what it looked like and I could see it, and I could just tell”

“They are picked by hand, they are amazing and then I could see the surgeon’s face and then he told me that you have breast cancer and then in the next sentence ‘What are your plans for the children?’, and for me that. was just…

‘In my head I’m thinking, ‘What’s Ben thinking?’ My twin sister knows that children have always been in the cards for me.

“So I was going to have a lumpectomy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment, and then after an MRI scan, that changed to a mastectomy, hopefully in time for egg retrieval, for chemotherapy.”

Telling why she was initially reluctant to have chemotherapy, Amy said: “I knew it was for Strictly that season and I had just watched my beautiful friend, my pink sister Jenny, go through cancer and she had to have chemotherapy and we did it the party we threw for her and I saw what it put her through.

“I was really scared and I didn’t want to lose my hair and I didn’t want to miss Strictly.”

Amy used her love of Strictly to motivate her to stay strong and look forward to the future.

She said: ‘I keep telling myself, ‘This too shall pass’ and unfortunately, people are diagnosed with breast cancer every day – I just hope that I can encourage them, that they can see that I’m over it and I’m back on the dance floor and it’s bright at the end of the tunnel.’

What is breast cancer, how many people are affected and what are the symptoms?

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Every year in the UK there are more than 55,000 new cases and the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women.

What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer develops from a cancer cell that develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts.

When breast cancer spreads to the surrounding breast tissue, it is called ‘invasive’ breast cancer. Some people are diagnosed with ‘carcinoma in situ’, where no cancer cells have grown outside the ducts or lobules.

Most cases develop in women over 50, but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men, although this is rare.

Staging means how big the cancer is and whether it has spread. Stage 1 is the earliest stage, and stage 4 means the cancer has spread to another part of the body.

Cancer cells are graded from low, which means slow growth, to high, which means fast growth. High-grade cancers are more likely to come back after they are first treated.

What causes breast cancer?

A cancerous tumor starts from a single abnormal cell. The exact reason why a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. Something is thought to damage or change certain genes in the cell. This makes the cell abnormal and multiply.

There are some risk factors that can increase the chance of developing breast cancer, such as genetics.

What are the symptoms of breast cancer?

The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most breast lumps are not cancerous and are fluid-filled cysts, which are benign.

The first place breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this happens, you will experience a swelling or lump in your armpit.

For more information visit breastcancernov.org or call the free helpline on 0808 800 6000