Strictly star Amy Dowden showcases sensational footwork in revealing show
This was the show where everybody's talking about Amy... an intimate audience with a Strictly Come Dancing pro, sharing pride in her achievements, revealing her hopes and performing some fab-u-lous dance moves.
The 'Queen of Caerphilly' Amy Dowden was back on adopted home ground for the third and final night of her short biographical-themed tour which blended sensational footwork with a resume of her career so far and a revealing question and answer session.
The 31-year-old Welsh dancer is based in Dudley, the home of her professional dance partner and fiancé Ben Jones. They run the Art In Motion dance school at Cradley Heath, whose young members and families ensured a full house for the Stourbridge gig.
The two-hour show featured Amy interviewed by Andrew Wilson, who is her agent and an amiable MC, interspersed by thrilling routines in which Amy danced with Ben, and also shared the limelight with her star students Jessica Lewis, Jamie Meah, Skye Markey-Thomas, Josh Blewitt, Mia France and Erin Morley.
Amy performed with Ben some of the most important dance routines from her championship ballroom career and five years on top BBCTV show Strictly. These included the jive to Hairspray's You Can't Stop The Beat, which scored a perfect 40 during series 17 in 2019 when she danced with Karim Zeroual, and a romantic rhumba to the song Listen from the musical Dreamgirls.
Some of her pupils acted out scenes in dance, such as when she started competitive dancing in partnership with her twin sister Rebecca, and the audience were also shown video highlights including an amusing but heart-felt endorsement by her first Strictly celeb partner Brian Conley.
In interview Amy revealed how she at first turned down the offer to join Strictly as she was focussed on winning the British dance championship with Ben, which they did achieve. Thankfully the show's producers would not take 'sorry but no' for an answer and booked her for the following year.
She spoke frankly about her debilitating chronic illness Crohn's Disease and the flare-ups which have seen her hospitalised on many occasions. The Bafta-winning success of her documentary on the condition has made her determined to spread awareness of inflammatory bowel disease.
Amy also revealed that she "wants babies" and after various Covid delays is finally to marry Ben in July this year. With the Strictly professionals invited that's going to be a wedding dance to remember. However, becoming a mum may have to wait until she achieves her ultimate ambition... lifting the glitterball as Strictly Come Dancing champion.
