Amy Dowden to return to Strictly for live tour

Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden is to return to the show for its live tour.

It comes after the 34-year-old, who made a return to the show this year after undergoing treatment for breast cancer, withdrew from the competition in November following an injury.

At the time, Dowden said she was "heartbroken" to be pulling out of the show due to an "insufficiency stress fracture" on her shin.

On the tour, beginning this January, the Welsh dancer will perform alongside her celebrity partner JB Gill, who will also dance with Dowden's replacement on the show, Lauren Oakley.

Other couples to dance on the tour include 2024 finalists Love Island's Tasha Ghouri and Aljaz Skorjanec, and fellow finalists, actress Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola. Actor and singer Shayne Ward will also appear, dancing alongside pro Nancy Xu.

Professional dancer Michelle Tsiakkas and EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick will dance together while Kai Widdrington and Olympian Montell Douglas are paired, as are Katya Jones and opera singer Wynne Evans.

This year's winner, comedian Chris McCausland, who was the first blind contestant to take part in Strictly, will not appear on the tour due to scheduling conflicts with his stand-up dates.

Dancers Dianne Buswell, Karen Hauer, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Jowita Przystal, Robbie Kmetoni and Jake Leigh, will also perform.

The tour opens at Birmingham's Utilita Arena on 17 January and will visit Sheffield, Newcastle, Glasgow, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester and Nottingham.

The final show will take place in London at the O2 on 9 February.

Dancers will be joined by the Strictly judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood and, for the first time on tour, Motsi Mabuse.

It Takes Two host Janette Manrara will return to host.

Manrara said it was "an incredible line-up of couples".

"Arena audiences around the country are in for a real treat. It's going to be a blast to be back with all the pros and, as an extra special treat, it will be a joy to welcome back the lovely Amy Dowden."

Dowden underwent treatment for stage-three breast cancer in 2023 and did not have a celebrity partner on the show for that year.

Following chemotherapy treatment and a mastectomy, she announced in February that tests showed she had "no evidence of disease".