Amy Dowden

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Amy Dowden
Born
Amy Dowden

(1990-08-10) 10 August 1990 (age 31)
Caerphilly, Wales, United Kingdom
OccupationProfessional dancer
Partner(s)Gino Gabriela[1]
2002–2008
Tom Parkes[2]
2008–2011
Benjamin Jones[3]
2011–present

Amy Dowden (born 10 August 1990) is a Welsh professional ballroom and Latin American dancer from Caerphilly, Wales, best known for her appearances on the BBC One television show Strictly Come Dancing. Dowden joined the BBC series in 2017, and in 2019, she was a finalist in the seventeenth series with TV presenter Karim Zeroual. Dowden and her partner Ben Jones are former British National Latin Dance Champions.

Early life[]

Dowden was born in Caerphilly, Wales and began dancing at the age of eight.[4] Alongside her partner Ben Jones, she became British National Latin Dance Champion in 2017, and the couple were the first all-British pair to win the championships in over thirty years. Other successes include becoming British Dance Federation Champions, English Closed Champions and Welsh Closed and Open Champions.[5] Dowden is also a four-time British National Finalist, and a World Championship semi-finalist, and she remains one of the highest-ranking Ballroom and Latin American professional dancers in the UK.[6]

Strictly Come Dancing[]

Dowden is the first Welsh professional to take part in the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing.[7]

Series Partner Place Average
Score
15 Brian Conley 12th 19.8
16 Danny John-Jules 9th 28.3
17 Karim Zeroual 2nd 35.7
18 JJ Chalmers 6th 28.0
19 Tom Fletcher 7th 30.5

Highest and Lowest Scoring Per Dance

Performances with Brian Conley[]

In 2017 Dowden appeared as a professional dancer in the fifteenth series, partnered with comedian Brian Conley. They made it to week 5 of the competition.[8]

  • Red number indicates Brian & Amy were at the bottom of the leaderboard

Performances with Danny John-Jules[]

Dowden returned for her second series in 2018 where she was partnered with Danny John-Jules. The couple were awarded the first 10 score of the series by Darcey Bussell for their Jive to "Flip, Flop and Fly" in week 5. They were eliminated in Week 8 after losing a dance-off to Graeme Swann and Oti Mabuse; their elimination came days after controversial bullying allegations, with tabloids reporting that John-Jules had reduced Dowden to tears.[9]

  • Blue score awarded by guest judge Alfonso Riberio
  • Green number indicates Danny & Amy were at the top of the leaderboard
  • Red number indicates Danny & Amy were at the bottom of the leaderboard

Performances with Karim Zeroual[]

In 2019 Dowden appeared as a professional dancer in the seventeenth series of the show, partnered with CBBC presenter Karim Zeroual. The pair received the first perfect 40 of the series for their Jive in Week 11.

  • Blue score awarded by guest judge Alfonso Riberio
  • Green number indicates Karim & Amy were at the top of the leaderboard

Performances with JJ Chalmers[]

In Series 18, Dowden partnered television presenter JJ Chalmers. They finished in 6th place, reaching musical week. The scores for this series were out of 30.

Performances with Tom Fletcher[]

In Series 19, Dowden partnered musician Tom Fletcher. On 26 September it was announced that both had contracted COVID-19 and would miss the following week's show.[10] On 21 November, in week 9 of the competition, they were the eighth couple to be eliminated, after a dance-off against Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu.[11]

  • Blue score was awarded by Cynthia Erivo who filled in for Craig Revel Horwood as judge for Week 9.
  • Red number indicates Tom & Amy were at the bottom of the leaderboard

Dance tours and other professional engagements[]

In 2019, Dowden headlined her own tour, ‘Here Come The Girls’, with fellow professional dancers Dianne Buswell and Chloe Hewitt.[12]

Dowden has also taken part in the Strictly Come Dancing Live! tour since 2018. In 2020, she performed with a celebrity partner for the first time on tour, her 2019 partner Karim Zeroual.

Dowden has announced her appearance with Jones at the 2022 'Dancing With The Stars Weekend' at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport.[13]

Personal life[]

Dowden is engaged to Ben Jones, her professional dance partner, and together they run the Art in Motion dance school in Dudley, West Midlands.[14]

Dowden has suffered from Crohn's disease since she was a child. In May 2019, she spoke out about the effect the condition has had on her career as a professional dancer.[15] In October 2020, the BBC aired a documentary about Dowden's experiences of living with the condition.[16] The documentary won a BAFTA Cymru award. [17]

References[]

  1. ^ "Gino Gabriela (England) & Amy Dowden (England)". DancesportInfo. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  2. ^ "Tom Parkes (England) & Amy Dowden (England)". DancesportInfo. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Benjamin Jones (England) & Amy Dowden (England)". DancesportInfo. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  4. ^ "Caerphilly dancer becomes first Welsh professional on Strictly Come Dancing – Caerphilly.Observer". caerphillyobserver.co.uk. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  5. ^ "Amy Dowden". cloud9. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  6. ^ "BBC One – Strictly Come Dancing – Amy Dowden". BBC. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  7. ^ Mainwaring, Rachel (9 September 2017). "Who is Strictly pro dancer Amy Dowden?". Wales Online. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  8. ^ "Strictly Come Dancing – Amy Dowden". BBC. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  9. ^ Hogan, Michael (11 November 2018). "Strictly Come Dancing 2018, week 8 results: Danny John-Jules eliminated in wake of bullying allegations". Retrieved 11 November 2018 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  10. ^ Williams, Kathryn (26 September 2021). "Strictly's Amy Dowden and Tom Fletcher test positive for Covid". WalesOnline. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  11. ^ "The latest star to leave Strictly has been named". The Independent. November 21, 2021.
  12. ^ "Here Come the Girls – Strictly stars shine on the Hawth stage – review". www.crawleyobserver.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  13. ^ "5* Weekend Break with the Stars of BBC Strictly Come Dancing". www.donaheys.co.uk.
  14. ^ "Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden announces she's engaged to boyfriend Ben Jones". Good to Know. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  15. ^ Mapstone, Lucy; Owen, Cathy (6 May 2019). "Strictly dancer Amy Dowden reveals her health battle for the first time". Wales Online. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  16. ^ "BBC One – Strictly Amy: Crohn's and Me". BBC. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  17. ^ "Winners announced: 2021 British Academy Cymru Awards". www.bafta.org. October 24, 2021.

External links[]

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