Amy Dowden

A three-time veteran of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and runner-up in the show’s nineteenth season, Amy Dowden is a Welsh ballroom and Latin American dancer. She made history as the first-ever Welsh professional to appear in Strictly Come Dancing and is a former British National Champion in Latin American Dance.

Born in 1991, Dowden began dancing at the age of eight. She later found success in professional competitions, reaching the semi-final of the World Championship in 2015. Dowden is also a four-time British National Finalist. She was crowned British National Champion in Latin American Dance alongside Ben Jones in 2017, and the two dancers got engaged later that year.

Following multiple appearances in the BBC series Strictly Come Dancing, Dowden is now a household name. She became the first Welsh-born professional on the show in 2017 when she danced with comedian Brian Conley. Dowden returned in 2018 and partnered with Danny John-Jules before reaching the finals with Karim Zeroual in the 2019 season.

Dowden has made frequent appearances on The Strictly Live Tour and headlined Here Come The Girls in summer 2019, her very own live dance tour. Later that year, she revealed that she suffers from Crohn’s Disease and has since made numerous media appearances to spread awareness of the disease. A lifelong proponent of dance, she runs Art In Motion Dance Academy in West Midlands with her fiancee Ben Jones. Amy Dowden is of the most recognizable dancers in the UK and will surely continue her reign as a Welsh icon.