BBC Strictly Come Dancing stars say 'this one's for you' as they dedicate dance to Amy Dowden in show 'first'

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Series 21 of S trictly Come Dancing is now in full swing after the launch show kicked off on BBC tonight (Sept 16). The first show of the series saw all 15 celebrities make their debut on the dancefloor together for the first time, as viewers finally found out which stars would be paired with which Strictly professionals.

But before the pairings were announced, the BBC dance contest paid a touching tribute to dancer Amy Dowden, who sadly couldn't be with her fellow stars for the launch.

The 33-year-old, who joined Strictly as a professional back in 2017, revealed she had been diagnosed with stage three breast cancer earlier this year.

After finding a lump in her right breast, Amy announced in June that she had undergone a mastectomy. She then later discovered that doctors had found another type of cancer and has since been documenting her chemotherapy treatment with her followers on social media. READ MORE: Read more Strictly Come Dancing stories here READ MORE: Gemma Atkinson says 'I'm taking the win' ahead of Gorka's Strictly Come Dancing return In a show first, there was a special performance from the professional dancers as well as judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood, who performed together in a mesmerising routine.