Amy Dowden ‘will still be there’ despite Lauren Oakley replacement as BBC Strictly co-star addresses reshuffle amid health scare
Strictly Come Dancing star Neil Jones has opened up about Lauren Oakley standing in for Amy Dowden this weekend after the professional fancer fell ill before the results show on Sunday evening.
After performing the Foxtrot with partner JB Gill, Dowden was taken to hospital due to suffering a “medical emergency” and will miss out on this weekend’s show.
The BBC released an official statement on the Strictly Instagram account explaining that Oakley will be standing in for Dowden this weekend.
It read: “Amy Dowden MBE is doing much better and the Strictly family send her love and wish her well.
“She is delighted that fellow professional dancer, Lauren Oakley, is able to step in for rehearsals and to perform in Saturday’s show for JB Gill’s Couple’s Choice dance.
“We are all hopeful that Amy will be back to dance with JB next week.”
Oakley – who joined the show back in 2022 – reposted the statement on her Instagram story and penned: “Sending you so much love & well wishes @amy_dowden.
“Hope you’re back on the dance floor as soon as possible. I will look after @jbgill for you this week. I hope we make you proud.” (sic)
Today, Strictly star Neil Jones gave another update on Dowden’s future on the show and left long-term fans with the good news that she will be returning.
Jones once again appeared on Morning Live, where host Gethin Jones noted: “Neil is here spicing up Strictly fitness.
“But before we get to that thought Neil, we know now that Amy Dowden won’t be dancing with JB Gill at the weekend as she recovers.
“We of course wish Amy well with the recovery, we also know that Lauren Oakley, a big fan at Strictly fitness, we see her here all the time, she’s going to step in.
“And the thing is you’re kind of one big family on Strictly as well, so I imagine it won’t be that disruptive to JB, but this happened to you when you were dancing with Alex Scott, you had to drop out a week didn’t you?”
Recalling the moment from 2019, Jones explained: “Yeah! I had to drop out, it was two weeks I had to drop out.
“I pulled a muscle and then Kevin Clifton jumped in on the day when it happened, he performed for Halloween and then he stayed with Alex the whole time for the next week and then I came back.
“But the whole time, all of us pros, we get involved, we are always there for our partners, so I was there still rehearsing, not dancing with her but I was still in the room.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Sir David Jason, 84, in blistering take on modern-day TV as he calls for return to old ‘rules’Maura Higgins breaks silence on Pete Wicks ‘romance’ amid BBC Strictly star rumoursBBC Saturday Kitchen guest issues blistering response amid ‘inappropriate’ outfit backlash
“That could be happening, and it is going to be good for JB, it’s going to be great for Amy and he is in safe hands with Lauren.”
Guest Peter Leavy interjected and asked: “How difficult is it for a celebrity if they get dancing with a pro and then the pro is swapped?”
Jones added: “Do you know what, it is one of those, it’s getting used to how people dance and how people move around but Amy will 100 per cent still be there with them, helping out.
“But it is one of them things where they also have assistance. They come in, check on, the celebs have so many pros around them all the time to help.”
