Strictly’s Lauren Oakley steps in for Amy Dowden in training

Strictly professional dancer Lauren Oakley has stepped in to train with celebrity contestant JB Gill following Amy Dowden’s collapse backstage during Saturday night’s main show.

Oakley will rehearse with JLS singer Gill on Monday. It’s not yet known when Dowden will return to the series.

An ambulance was called to Elstree Studios in Borehamwood on Saturday when Dowden began feeling unwell.

She returned to the Strictly line-up this year, having missed the 2023 series after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

A spokesperson for the dancer said the ambulance “was called as a precaution” and that she was now “feeling much better”.

Oakley, who doesn’t have a celebrity partner this year, joined the BBC show in 2022.

In 2023, she was partnered with Channel 4 news presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy. The pair finished in eighth place.

Gill and Dowden received a score of 32 on Saturday night after performing a foxtrot to Dancing In The Moonlight by Toploader.

Dowden did not appear in Sunday evening’s results show as she was taken to hospital before it was filmed.

The dancer was initially diagnosed with stage three breast cancer aged 32 in May 2023, after finding a lump in her breast the day before she went on her honeymoon.

The now-34-year-old was diagnosed again with “another type of cancer” later that same year and began chemotherapy.

She returned to hospital in August 2024 for further tests, as doctors were concerned about abnormalities in her breast after a check-up. She was later given the all-clear.

Dowden also has Crohn’s disease – a lifelong condition which causes parts of the digestive system to become inflamed – and has previously spoken about its toll on her health.