Strictly’s Amy Dowden to return for live tour after withdrawing from show

Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden is to make a comeback for the show’s live tour after withdrawing from the show following an injury.

Dowden, 34, who made a return to competing on the BBC One series this year after undergoing treatment for breast cancer, departed the competition in early November after an “insufficiency stress fracture” on her shin.

On the tour, beginning this January, the Welsh dancer will perform alongside her celebrity partner JB Gill, who will also dance with Dowden’s replacement on the show, Lauren Oakley.

JB Gill and Amy Dowden on Strictly Come Dancing (Guy Levy/BBC/PA)PA Media - Guy Levy/BBC

The cast of seven celebrities were revealed earlier in the month with the pairings now revealed to be; professional dancer Michelle Tsiakkas and EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick, Kai Widdrington and Olympian Montell Douglas, and Katya Jones with opera singer Wynne Evans.

There is also Aljaz Skorjanec with Love Island star Tasha Ghouri, Vito Coppola and actress Sarah Hadland and Nancy Xu with singer Shayne Ward.

Dancers Dianne Buswell, Karen Hauer, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Jowita Przystal, Robbie Kmetoni and Jake Leigh, will also perform.

This year’s winner, comedian Chris McCausland, who is the first blind contestant to win the show, will not take part in the tour due to scheduling conflicts with his stand-up tour.

After she left the competition in November, Dowden said the injury that caused her to pull out of the competition had “nothing to do with any previous health scares”.

Dowden underwent treatment for stage-three breast cancer in 2023 and did not have a celebrity partner on the show for that year.

Following chemotherapy treatment and a mastectomy, she announced in February that tests showed she had “no evidence of disease”.

Dianne Buswell and Chris McCausland were declared the winners of Strictly Come Dancing 2024 (Guy Levy/BBC/PA)PA Media - Guy Levy/BBC

The tour opens at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena on January 17 before moving to Sheffield, Newcastle, Glasgow, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham and London, with the final show taking on February 9 at the O2.

The famous faces will be joined by the Strictly judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood and for the first time on the tour, Motsi Mabuse, who will provide their professional insight and scores on the performances, while It Takes Two host Janette Manrara returns to host the tour once again.

Manrara said: “Wow – what an incredible line-up of couples we have on the tour next year!

“Arena audiences around the country are in for a real treat. It’s going to be a blast to be back with all the pros and, as an extra special treat, it will be a joy to welcome back the lovely Amy Dowden.

“Get ready for an evening of pure Strictly entertainment for the whole family – bigger and better than ever before!”

Alongside a host of lively performances, audiences are granted the power to decide who wins the coveted glitterball trophy at the end of each show.

Tickets are on sale now from strictlycomedancinglive.com.