2 weeks Ago
The Welsh dancer had returned for this year’s series of the BBC competition after missing out last year while undergoing cancer treatment, but she had to withdraw earlier this month after suffering an insufficiency stress fracture to her foot. JLS singer Gill has been dancing with professional Lauren Oakley since Dowden’s injury, with the pair securing a near-perfect score on Saturday night’s lives show. During their lively Charleston to Yes Sir! That’s My Baby by Firehouse Five Plus Two, Gill flipped Oakley upside down and in a cartwheel spin.
After showing off his quick footwork and completing a series of dramatic lifts, the pair were awarded 39 points out of 40 by the judges. Head judge Shirley Ballas thanked Gill for bringing “so much joy” to the dance floor, while Craig Revel Horwood praised the routine as “pure class”. Dowden, 34, shared photos of herself with Gill following the live show, writing: “So proud of you @jbgill.
“Would do anything in the world to be out there on the floor with you but you are shining and everyone is seeing your talent! Thank you @laurenmayoakley.” Dowden could be seen watching and cheering the couple on from the studio balcony alongside her fellow professional dancers during the programme, wearing a pink sparkly dress. She had previously said she hoped to return to the dance floor in some capacity after a couple of weeks of rest.
Earlier this month, she marked one year since finishing chemotherapy treatment in an emotional post on social media, thanking “those around me who are there for the good, the bad and the ugly”. Dowden found a lump in her breast the day before her honeymoon to the Maldives with her husband, fellow professional dancer Ben Jones. After treatment for stage three breast cancer, including having a mastectomy and chemotherapy, she announced in February that tests showed she had “no evidence of disease”.
The Caerphilly-born dancer has documented both her cancer journey and living with Crohn’s disease on a number of BBC shows..
