Shirley Ballas’ heartfelt gesture to Amy Dowden as she battles breast cancer

Amy, 32, who Shirley has known since she was a child, is currently undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. Following her diagnosis in May, the dancer had a mastectomy, but she was later told her tumours had spread and another type of cancer was discovered. In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk , Shirley said Amy had personally ‘let her know’ about her devastating diagnosis before the news was made public. On how she is supporting her, the 62-year-old said: ‘I’m a letter writer so I write her nice letters, send her some flowers, I stay in touch with her. Amy Dowden is undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. (Image: Instagram Amy Dowden) ‘I’ve known Amy since she was a little girl, I’ve trained her on and off throughout the years of her dancing. ‘I’ve seen her when she is at her worst, where she’s had to be hospitalised, and I don’t think I’ve met a stronger woman than Amy.’ Amy also suffers from Crohn’s disease which has seen her hospitalised multiple times since she was diagnosed with the chronic bowel condition aged 19. While Amy is too unwell to compete in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, Shirley has no doubts that she ‘will be back’. Shirley Ballas shared the heartwarming ways she is supporting Amy Dowden. (Image: Getty) The Queen of Latin continued: ‘If she can be back with all her dancing shoes and the glitter, she’ll be back. I know Amy very well and she’ll get up and running for sure.’ While Amy will not return in a competitive capacity this year, she has assured fans that she is in ‘regular contact with the team’. It comes as Shirley is taking on a trio of huge challenges to raise funds for the suicide prevention charity, CALM. Shirley Ballas completed the world’s fastest zipline to raise funds for CALM. (Image: Supplied) Despite her fear of heights, she took on the world’s fastest zipline in North Wales and will also do a wing walk and skydive in one week. The challenge is incredibly close to Shirley’s heart following the death of her beloved brother to suicide.