Amy Dowden has responded to former Strictly Come Dancing pro Brendan Cole’s criticism after her early exit from the BBC competition series this season.
Dowden — who returned to the BBC's Saturday night staple in 2024 after beating breast cancer — was the first to be eliminated for the second year running after she and celebrity hair stylist Chris Appleton ended up in the dance-off.
In an interview with Sky Vegas, Cole suggested that Dowden hasn’t been “up to the challenge” for “the last few years”.
Dowden hit back at Cole’s comments in a new interview with Closer magazine, saying: “I’m sad it was so personal. It wasn’t just about the dancing; it was personal. But I don’t want to give him the attention he so desperately craves.”
The 36-year-old dancer admits that she is particularly disappointed that Brendan, 50, didn’t contact her following the headlines generated by his criticism.
Dowden, who was also eliminated first from the 2025 series of Strictly with former Apprentice star Thomas Skinner, said: “Why not pick up the phone and check how I was after those headlines? I haven’t heard from him, but it’s fine, I don’t expect anything else.”
Dowden was praised for what appeared to be her initial response to Cole’s remarks, in which she shared a tongue-in-cheek video to Instagram.
The dancer posed in a silver dress in her Strictly dressing room while blowing a kiss to the camera, miming the opening line to Mariah Carey’s hit 2009 single “Obsessed”, where the pop star asks: “And I was like, why are you so obsessed with me?”
She captioned the post, “If you know, you know,” and added the hashtags #bekind and #inaworldyoucanbeanythingbekind.
However, Dowden – who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023 – does have a supporter in Catherine, Princess of Wales – who herself was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in 2024 and is now in remission.
The Welsh dancer told Closer: “I met her when I was receiving my cancer treatment and she was asking if there was anything she could do.”
Dowden revealed that it was Catherine’s daughter Princess Charlotte, 11, who was particularly excited to meet her as she is a “big fan” of Strictly Come Dancing.
She explained: “Princess Charlotte is a big fan of Strictly.
“When I went to Kate's carol concert, Charlotte walked in and was pointing at me, and Kate had to come back and say, ‘Oh, Charlotte recognised you straight away and had to say hello’, which was so sweet.”
Meanwhile, Dowden believes it is hard to pick a winner for this year’s series of Strictly as the competition starts heating up.
She said: “It’s so close this year. However, there’s so many to pick from: Lacey Turner, Dani Dyer, Cach Mercer and Jaime Winstone – they're all fabulous!”
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