Strictly Come Dancing’s Amy Dowden’s off-camera comment that ‘put everything into perspective’ for Sam Quek
Hockey star Sam Quek has posted an emotional message to Instagram after being eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing following her performance to Taylor Swift's Love Story with professional partner Nikita Kuzmin. In it, she thanks the Strictly family, but also opens up about how hard she found the experience, both physically and mentally.
However, Sam also reveals that an off-camera comment by Welsh professional dancer Amy Dowden, 34, a few weeks ago helped to "put everything into perspective" for her. The comment was made after Amy and JLS member JB Gill surprisingly found themselves in the dance-off two weeks ago.
Sam said: "When JB and Amy found themselves in the bottom two, the entire audience were [sic] in a state of shock. As the two of them took to the floor to do their dance-off, they weren't greeted with the usual warm applause and support from the crowd, such was the tension, surprise and awkwardness in the studio.
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"Amy turned around to the audience and said, 'Come on folks... it's just a dance-off... it's not a year of chemotherapy!' A sobering reminder that there are bigger and more important things going on around the world than Strictly Come Dancing... amongst the glitz, glamour, twirls and lifts you can sometimes forget that."
Caerphilly-born Amy missed last year's series of the BBC One show after being diagnosed with grade three breast cancer in May 2023. She shared her journey from just six days after her diagnosis throughout her treatment in a documentary titled Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me, which aired in August.
In the documentary Amy spoke about how much the show meant to her and used dancing as a goal to work towards. For the latest TV & Showbiz news, sign up to our newsletter
Announcing that she would be returning for the 20th anniversary series of Strictly, she said: "MY HEART IS SO HAPPY. The best team on and off the dance floor. I can't wait to be back doing what I love most in the world, dancing!"
Amy has been dancing with JB Gill on this year's series, but was unable to dance on Saturday night's show (November 2) after being taken ill at the Strictly studios on October 26, with an ambulance being called as a "precaution". She watched from the sidelines as JB performed a couple's choice to a medley of Bruno Mars with Lauren Oakley. See JB's message to Amy as they made it through to week seven, here.
