DINH DOONG

STRICTLY dancer Amy Dowden could be forced to quit the contest after collapsing while filming Saturday night’s show and being rushed to hospital.

The Welsh pro, who has Crohn’s Disease and has been battling cancer for almost 18 months, was seen by paramedics at Elstree Studios.

Her condition was so serious that the fire service were called and specialist equipment used to help her to an ambulance while keeping her completely flat.

Amy, 34, collapsed after she performed her dance with her celebrity partner — JLS singer JB Gill, 37 — during the main show.

She was unable to appear in the recording of the live show, which aired last night.

Instead hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly explained to viewers at home: “Before we get started, Amy isn’t able to be with us for tonight’s show.”

JB was seen standing alone on the staircase. When it was announced he was going through to next week, he smiled and said “Thank you” to cheers.

A Strictly insider said: “Amy was obviously in huge distress. “Everyone around her was equally upset because they felt so helpless.

“JB had to be given a hug. Even the medic who first attended to Amy needed support and consolation. The only thing they could do was try to get her to hospital as quickly and safely as possible.”

For the Halloween Special, Amy and JB dressed as scarecrows and performed to Dancing In The Moonlight by Toploader at 7.18pm.

It’s understood Amy started to feel ill minutes after she and JB received a 32 out of 40 score from the judges at 7.25pm.

Amy cheered and jumped up and down when Motsi gave them a 9, and screamed when she got an 8 from Anton.

Amy was still seen standing and smiling with JB in the final line-up at around 8.10pm.

By 9pm an ambulance had been called and at 9.50pm the fire service were also contacted to assist.

Amy has talked at length about the excruciating pain she suffers as a result of her Crohn’s, an inflammatory disease of the digestive system often brought on by stress.

Her spokesman said yesterday: “Amy was feeling unwell and so an ambulance was called as a precaution. She’s feeling much better and would like to thank the Strictly family for their love and concern.”

‘Contingencies in place’

Yesterday morning the BBC released a statement saying: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, Amy Dowden was unable to be in tonight’s results show.”

The BBC did not give any further detail with a spokeswoman adding only: “We have contingencies in place for all eventualities.”

No pro dancer has ever dropped out of Strictly in its 20 years.

Amy is hugely popular with fans, who would hate to see her having to leave the show.

Celebrities have had to leave — including comedian and actor Robert Webb who had a serious heart condition in the 2021 series.

It could mean that another pro may be brought in to replace Amy — either permanently or temporarily — if she is not considered well enough to return to rehearsals this week.

JLS star JB may decide he cannot continue without Amy.

An insider added: “They are incredibly close.

“She has helped him remain in the top band of the scoreboard since this series started.”

The East of England Ambulance Service confirmed: “We were called just after 9pm on Saturday to attend a medical emergency at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood.

“An ambulance was sent to the scene. One patient, an adult female, was transported to Barnet Hospital for further care.”

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Mark Barber said: “Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service were called at 9.50pm to Elstree Studios in Borehamwood. We assisted with the transfer of a female patient to an ambulance.”

Amy, from Caerphilly in South Wales, has been battling Crohn’s disease since she was a teenager.

She has been taken to hospital more than a hundred times because of it.

In a BBC documentary in 2020 she revealed the bittersweet secret that joining Strictly could have made her dreams come true — but losing her spot in the line-up would represent her worst nightmare.

I live in fear that what I love the most could be taken away

Amy said: “Strictly has been more than a dance show to me, it got me through the darkest times of my illness.

“For me it was a big inspiration to keep me dancing.

“Dancing has pulled me through my Crohn’s but it’s a battle.

“I live in fear that what I love the most could be taken away.”

In one scene in the Beeb documentary Amy was seen collapsing a day after completing the last Strictly tour, and ended up being rushed to hospital.

She said: “To the public watching me with all our make-up, fake tan, glitz, glamour and spotlights, it’s a different world. I don’t think they could ever imagine this could be me the next day.

“I knew things weren’t right but your body goes: ‘Right you’ve got to get through this, you don’t want to let anyone down, you can do this. And you can just push yourself through anything’.

“I can’t think of how many times I’ve been in hospital.

“It’s got to be at least over 100 times. When I was 18 or 19 it was every month at least for a week.”

‘What a difference a year can make’

Before her return to Strictly, Amy also faced months of cancer treatment and was forced to step back from the series last year.

She revealed that touching messages from fans help her to stay on the show, explaining: “I get so many messages about my smile.

“I always look back and think, ‘Gosh, this time last year I was having chemo, this time last year I was in hospital with a blood clot’.”

She added: “What a difference a year can make.

“I get messages every day from people saying, ‘I’m going through chemo and you’re my hope’, or, ‘Because of you I’ve checked myself and I found a lump’, or something like this.

“I’m just grateful to be back and be in the position I am.”

Amy was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in May 2023.

Just a couple of months later she was told she had another type of cancer, which was found elsewhere in the body.

Following a mastectomy, she was told the tumours had spread and was diagnosed with cancer for the second time that July.

And in August 2024, her return to Strictly was thrown into chaos when doctors raised concerns about abnormalities in her breast following a check-up.

Amy later received the all-clear from her consultant.