Strictly's Amy Dowden admitted she was finding competing on the series 'very, very tough' just hours before her dramatic backstage collapse

Amy Dowden told of her struggles at competing on Strictly after returning from her cancer battle. Amy Dowden shared her struggles with competing on the 'very, very tough' show this year just hours before her Halloween Special dance with JB Gill after which she collapsed The dancer, 34, who returned to Strictly after her battle with breast cancer, revealed she was finding the series 'very, very tough' just hours before she collapsed backstage on Saturday Strictly bosses have replaced her with professional dancer Lauren Oakley, who was originally left without a partner for this year's show, while she recuperates Firm fixtures at the top of the leaderboard in this series are the likes of trained dancer, Tasha Ghouri, and the Miranda actress, Sarah Hadland, who studied ballet as a young girl. Meanwhile, despite JB Gill's high scores only two weeks ago, he was threatened with leaving the show when he and Amy ended up in the dance-off against DIY SOS presenter, Nick Knowles. The Welsh dancer missed the results show after she collapsed and was taken to hospital following her performance with JB During week four the pair faced a dance off against Nick Knowles but were saved by the judges Amy's mother Gillian Dowden, 65, has also said she had spoken to her daughter several times since her worrying backstage collapse after Saturday's show Show insiders feared Amy, who also battles Crohn's disease and is recovering from breast cancer, could quit the show following her collapse on Saturday evening Less than two hours later, the Welsh dancer collapsed and was taken to hospital. Amy's mother Gillian Dowden, 65, has also said she had spoken to her daughter several times since her worrying backstage collapse after Saturday's show.