Amy Dowden has long inspired her fans with her resilient attitude to living with Crohn's disease, and she has faced her breast cancer diagnosis equally bravely.
On Wednesday, she was hailed as "a superstar" as she returned her former school, Hallfield, to speak to pupils as part of their prize-giving day.
On Instagram, the Midlands school's official account shared a picture of Amy standing behind a lectern, wearing a gingham dress and smiling, with her long blonde hair styled in loose waves.
The caption read: "A remarkable story of perseverance, hard work and selflessness, whilst overcoming adversity to get to the top of her profession. Thank you Amy, you really are a superstar!"
© InstagramOne of the parents who met Amy after her talk also took to Instagram, writing: "We got the honour to meet the amazing Amy Dowden from Strictly today. She gave such an amazing and inspirational speech for Hallfield's prize-giving day at The Great Hall, University of Birmingham .
© Getty"A great role model in teaching our girls to never give up your dreams and to always dream big. 'DONT BE BITTER, BE BETTER!' "Thank you Amy Dowden, I hope you get through the next battle you're facing [praying hands emoji]".
© GettyAmy revealed exclusively to HELLO! in May that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and went on to have a mastectomy earlier this month.
READ: Amy Dowden shares health update with fans amid hopes for Strictly return
Three weeks ago, she shared an image to social media showing herself in a hospital bed, smiling at the camera and holding her thumbs up.
© GettyThe dancer captioned the image: "Step one to beating cancer! Rrrrrrready for this fight and more determined than ever to get back on the dance floor… #breastcanceryoung #checkyourchest #checkyourlemons #letsdothis #breastcancerawareness."
Her former Strictly partner Tom Fletcher commented: "Sending you all the love today. Us Fletchers are right behind you X."
© Getty"You got this @amy_dowden," her co-star Gorka Marquez wrote, while former contestant Sara Davies added: "You’ve got this! [heart emojis]," and 2018 champion Stacey Dooley posted three red hearts.
Other followers chimed in with kind messages, which included: "Sending all the love, you've got this! xxx," and: "Sending you all of the love in the world! You're going to beat this and I cannot wait for you to be back to doing what you love most."
© GettySpeaking to HELLO!, Amy said: "I've been through quite a lot in my life and this is another hurdle. But if I'm positive and strong, I've got a really good chance of getting back out on the dancefloor as soon as possible."
© GettyThe Welsh-born dancer revealed that she hopes to raise awareness of the disease and help others going through their own diagnoses. "With what I've done for Crohn’s, I want to do the same here,” explained Amy, whose advocacy has included making a powerful BBC documentary, Strictly Amy: Crohn's and Me.
© Getty"If I can try and turn this negative into a positive, it's going to help me get through this." "You just don't ever think it's going to happen to you," she added. "I hadn't thought it was possible to get breast cancer at my age. My mum has had breast cancer, but she had it at a later age, in her 50s."
