Amy Dowden Says She Can Achieve Anything After Winning Celebrity Hunted

Welsh dancer Amy Dowden has said that winning the TV show Celebrity Hunted has helped her feel like she can do anything. The 36-year-old is best known as a professional dancer on BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing. She won the Channel 4 show alongside her fellow Strictly dancer Carlos Gu. Their victory came just two years after Dowden was diagnosed with breast cancer, making her win even more meaningful.

Celebrity Hunted is a show where celebrities pretend to be on the run from a team of expert hunters. The hunters use tools like CCTV cameras, helicopters, drones, dogs, and cyber technology to track the celebrities down. The show raises money for Stand Up To Cancer, a charity that funds cancer research.

Dowden and Gu shared their victory with actor Brian Conley and his daughter, comedian Lucy Conley. The two pairs made history by becoming the first teams to both reach the end of the show without being caught. The exciting finale saw all four of them racing across sand dunes on a beach in north Wales. They jumped onto an escape plane just in time to avoid the hunters.

Dowden was only 32 years old when she found a lump in her breast the day before her honeymoon in May 2023. Doctors told her she had grade three breast cancer, which is a serious form of the disease. She went through many tough treatments, including a mastectomy, chemotherapy, and fertility treatment. She was also put into an early menopause as a result of her care.

She has spoken openly about her experiences in a BBC documentary called Strictly Amy: Cancer And Me. Dowden also lives with Crohn's disease, which affects the digestive system. Despite all of this, she returned to the Strictly dance floor in 2025. She says her confidence is now stronger than ever.

After winning, Dowden said her belief in herself had fully returned after two difficult years. She joked about celebrating on the plane, saying she grabbed a bottle of champagne the moment they were safe. Gu added that the pair was inspired to take part in the show to raise awareness for people dealing with cancer. He said they wanted to give hope to anyone watching at home who might be going through the same thing.

Brian Conley said winning was amazing, but he wished his oldest daughter Amy and his wife Anne-Marie could have been there to celebrate. He said the team had gone in just hoping to last a few days. Lucy Conley said she felt pure joy and shock when she saw her dad make it safely onto the plane beside her. She said no one who knew they were taking part actually believed they could win.