Amy Dowden admitted Strictly is ‘very very tough’ for her this year just hours before backstage collapse

AMY Dowden has admitted that Strictly is ‘very very tough’ for this year, just hours before her backstage collapse.

The Welsh pro, who has Crohn's Disease and has been battling cancer for almost 18 months, is said to be “doing much better” but will be unable to return this week to Strictly, after collapsing during Saturday night’s show.

Lauren Oakley, 33, will step in to partner JB Gill, 37, during training and Saturday’s show.

And Amy described the competition as “tough” before she collapsed.

The professional dancer said: “It's very very tough competition this year as you can see with that leaderboard.”

She continued to tell the Mail: “The reality is now that there are ten couples left and two of them will be in the dance-off each week. But, it's happened and we live to dance another day.”

Amy added: "The middle of the leaderboard is jam-packed and that's a very dangerous place to be."

Amy and JB managed to secure fifth place on the leaderboard during the Halloween special with a foxtrot.

But just shortly after, Amy’s condition was so serious that the fire service were called to Elstree Studios and specialist equipment used to help her to an ambulance while keeping her completely flat.

She was unable to appear in the recording of the second half of the show, which aired on Sunday night.

JB was seen standing alone on the staircase. When it was announced he was going through to next week, he smiled and said "Thank you" to cheers.

This weekend JB and Lauren will perform a dance to a medley of Bruno Mars’ hits for the special themed week around Icons. 

Lauren partnered Krishnan Guru-Murthy last year but failed to appear on the main show partnerships for 2024.

She stood by under fire dancer Giovanni Pernice, 33, during the probe into his behaviour on the show, performing on his solo theatre tour. 

For the Halloween Special, Amy and JB dressed as scarecrows and performed to Dancing In The Moonlight by Toploader at 7.18pm.

It's understood Amy started to feel ill minutes after she and JB received a 32 out of 40 score from the judges at 7.25pm.

Amy cheered and jumped up and down when Motsi gave them a 9, and screamed when she got an 8 from Anton.

Amy was still seen standing and smiling with JB in the final line-up at around 8.10pm.

By 9pm an ambulance had been called and at 9.50pm the fire service were also contacted to assist.

No pro dancer has ever dropped out of Strictly in its 20 years.