I had to look Amy Dowden in the eye and say: 'You need this chemo'

DRAGONS' DEN SARA ON SPECIAL BOND WITH STAR

- LAURA ARMSTRONG and NICOLA FAHEY

DRAGONS' Den star Sara Davies has opened up about pal Amy Dowden's brave cancer battle and revealed the dancer was so afraid of being dropped from Strictly she considered delaying her treatment.

The pair have been close since Sara was paired with pro Aljaz Skorjanec on the hit BBC show in 2021.

And the entrepreneur reveals she helped Amy make some tough choices following her shock diagnosis last year including ignoring the "hardwiring" telling her to put her dancing above everything else.

Speaking on our Invite Only podcast, Sara says: "I spent a lot of time with her at the start of the cancer diagnosis when she wasn't feeling positive. She'd been dealt a bad hand and she was struggling.

"I knew then I needed to be the friend that was filling her tank - but if you just want someone to give you a hug and tell you it's gonna be OK, I'm not the one to go to.

"I was the one who was like, 'What's the plan, Amy?' and pushing her to make difficult decisions. She wasn't sure if she was going to have chemo so we talked about that.

"What I've realised with the dancers is that from being little they are hardwired to dance. And the biggest blow for her was [thinking] 'If I don't go down that route, I won't be able to do Strictly this year'.

"I had to look her in the eye and say, Amy, you've got cancer. They've literally just cut your boob off. They are telling you you need to have this chemo to get better. Don't worry about dance and Strictly'.

"Her response was, 'But they might not want me back next year. So I said, 'You're amazing at what you do, of course they will. You're so well loved. Please, it's really important. Get well."

When Amy, 33, did appear on the show in October to read the T&Cs, without her wig, Sara admits she cried.