Overview
- On BBC's It Takes Two, presenter Janette Manrara paused the show to wish Dowden a speedy recovery following her announcement.
- Dowden told fans her doctors expect a straightforward recovery and that she intends to rejoin her Strictly colleagues once healed.
- She said she aims to “dance [her] way through 2026,” offering a rough timeline for her comeback.
- After treatment for a 2023 breast cancer diagnosis, Dowden said in February 2024 there was no evidence of disease and has since continued advocating early screening.
- In a retrospective segment, she credited her 2021 partner Tom Fletcher and his wife Giovanna for charity ties that led her to discover her tumour.