Amy Dowden Confirmed for Strictly Live Tour

Professional dancer Amy Dowden is scheduled to rejoin the Strictly Come Dancing live tour. This announcement follows the 34-year-old’s withdrawal from the competition in November due due to an injury, after she had returned to the program this year following treatment for breast cancer. At the time, Dowden stated she was “heartbroken” to be pulling out of the show because of an “insufficiency stress fracture” on her shin. Starting this January, the Welsh dancer will perform on the tour alongside her celebrity partner JB Gill. Gill is also slated to dance with Lauren Oakley, who served as Dowden’s replacement on the show. Other pairs confirmed for the tour include 2024 finalists Tasha Ghouri of Love Island with Aljaz Skorjanec, and fellow finalists, actress Sarah Hadland with Vito Coppola. Actor and singer Shayne Ward is also set to appear, dancing with professional Nancy Xu. The lineup further includes professional dancer Michelle Tsiakkas partnered with EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick, Kai Widdrington with Olympian Montell Douglas, and Katya Jones with opera singer Wynne Evans. However, this year’s winner, comedian Chris McCausland, who was the first blind contestant to participate in Strictly, will not be featured on the tour due to scheduling conflicts with his stand-up dates. Additional dancers Dianne Buswell, Karen Hauer, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Jowita Przystal, Robbie Kmetoni, and Jake Leigh are also confirmed to perform. The tour is set to open at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena on January 17 and will subsequently visit Sheffield, Newcastle, Glasgow, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, and Nottingham. The final performance will take place in London at the O2 on February 9. The dancers will be joined by Strictly judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood, and, for the first time on tour, Motsi Mabuse. It Takes Two host Janette Manrara will return to host the events. Manrara described the roster as “an incredible line-up of couples.” She added, “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.” Dowden underwent treatment for stage-three breast cancer in 2023 and consequently did not have a celebrity partner on the show that year. Following chemotherapy treatment and a mastectomy, she announced in February that tests indicated she had “no evidence of disease.”