Amy Dowden is known and adored for her role on Strictly Come Dancing, but away from the show, the professional dancer has gone through many ups and downs while battling Crohn's disease.
And now, the BBC star is keen to open up about and raise awareness for the condition in her new show, Strictly Down: Crohn's & Me.
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The dancer, who had to delay her wedding to her partner last year due to the pandemic, has credited her family and friends for their support over the years, but Amy has also detailed how her fiancé, Ben Jones, has been "instrumental" during her battle with Crohn's.
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Opening up to HELLO! magazine in 2019, she shared: "I've been with Ben since I was 21, so he's seen it a lot. He had to get used to it quite quickly."
Amy and Ben, who run their own dance school and are former British national Latin American dance champions, revealed they tackle her disease together.
Ben is instrumental in helping Amy stave off attacks, which begin with a "whole personality change" - Amy gets sleepy, her eyes start to swell and she goes pale. "When that happens, she has to stop and rest immediately," Ben explained. "If she doesn't, things get worse."
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© Photo: Getty ImagesAmy with her fiance, Ben Jones
Amy, 30, added: "The pain is so sharp and severe and I need morphine to help. I know my body and I know when I need to go to hospital. I'm being sick so much I can’t keep my medication down, so I have anti-sickness injected. It's a vicious circle and I can't get better, so I have everything intravenously until it settles down.
The hospital staff always say I'm so used to pain that when I have a baby, I'll have no problem at all." The star - who will reprise her role in the Strictly ballroom for this year's competition - went on to confess she won't let Crohn's affect her dream day. "Obviously, leading up to the wedding, I need to make sure that if there's a symptom I'm on top of it.
"We want to be creative with the menu, but it'll be designed to my needs," said Amy, adding: "The planning is going so well, but I haven't done any dress shopping yet. I want to take Oti [Mabuse], Dianne [Buswell], my mum and my twin sister with me." She concluded: "Nobody will be able to make a decision because everyone will have a different opinion. I can't wait."
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