Amy Dowden is living by the motto 'go grab life' after her cancer battle

Amy Dowden is living by the motto "go grab life" following her cancer battle.

The 'Strictly Come Dancing' star underwent a mastectomy and chemotherapy after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023, and was told there were no signs of the disease in February.

Amy has been inspired to live life to the full after meeting a girl who sadly lost her battle with cancer.

Speaking on her new BBC documentary 'Strictly Amy: Cancer And Me', she said: "Go grab life. Nikki, a remarkable young lady in her 30s who I connected to online unfortunately passed away from breast cancer during my treatment last year. She always said 'Go grab life' and that's what she did. I'm determined to live by her motto."

After losing her hair and gaining weight amid her treatments, Amy learned that "appearance really doesn't matter".

She said: "I've learned... having my hair, my eyebrows, my eyelashes stripped away from me... I gained two stone in weight. I was on steroids, chemo, broken foot you name it and I've learned that appearance really doesn't matter.

"Your soul shines through. I was stripped bare and still accepted. I've learnt to love and appreciate every single moment even more in life."

Amy hopes doing the documentary will remind people to check for the signs of cancer as it saved her life.

She said: "I never thought I would ever, ever be diagnosed with breast cancer at 32.

"I only came across it because I was checking myself. If I wasn't, I might not be here right now because I had grade three the most aggressive type of cancer. If it can raise awareness and 10 people start checking themselves from watching this documentary, I could potentially save a life.

"Being in the public eye, I knew I wasn't going to be able to shy away from it. It was scary and daunting and I did have friends and family saying 'Are you sure you want to do this? ' But it gave me a focus as well throughout all of this."