Amy Dowden in tears as she reveals reason for exiting Strictly

A tearful Amy Dowden opened up about her exit from Strictly on the show's sister programme It Takes Two. In a heartbreaking announcement, the Welsh dancer announced she had to quit the show.

Amy's partner JB Gill has been left ready to pair up with professional dancer Lauren Oakley on Strictly Come Dancing. However Amy said her exit was "nothing to do with any previous health scares", reports MirrorOnline.

In May 2023, she had a cancer diagnosis. While in 2019 she was diagnosed with Crohn's.

READ MORE: Travis Kelce's brother speaks out after angry confrontation with fan over Taylor Swift dig

Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp, click the link to join

But the reason she had to pull out of this year's competition was her painful foot injury, Amy confirmed. She spoke to Janette Manrara on Strictly's spin-off show, saying: "I'm absolutely gutted, unfortunately I have an insufficiency stress fracture, if I've said that right, on my shin."

"This injury could have happened to anybody. I want to stress it’s nothing to do with any previous health scares," added Amy.

The devastating blow came after she had returned to competing in the BBC show for its 20th anniversary series after missing out last year while undergoing cancer treatment. Amy had previously been vocal about her battle with stage three breast cancer, receiving treatments ranging from mastectomy to chemotherapy.

Earlier this year, she shared an uplifting update that her tests indicated "no evidence of disease". The inspirational Caerphilly dancer has been candid about her experiences, bringing her cancer fight and living with Crohn’s disease into the spotlight through various BBC documentaries.

The 34-year-old added to Janette: “Hopefully I’ll be back dancing in some capacity, maybe in a group number, by the end of the series.” With JB Gill ready to continue in this week's show, he paid a gushing tribute to his former partner in a clip on the show in which he praised her "beautiful soul".

Hours earlier he had taken to Instagram to share further praise with his followers.