The Merseyside native was supported by Amy Dowden after she shared the moment
Sam Quek has lifted the lid on a heartbreaking off-camera moment during her time on Strictly Come Dancing. The Olympic gold medal winner become the latest celebrity to depart the BBC contest last weekend.
The mum-of-two was paired with Nikita Kuzmin for this series and their race for the Glitterball came to an end after an American Smooth To Taylor Swift’s Love Story. Sam has taken to Instagram to reflect on her stint as she admitted she was gutted to be leaving the show.
However, Sam said the competitive element of Strictly was put into perspective as she shared a moment from week five of the show. Amy Dowden and JB Gill surprisingly found themselves in the bottom two, which stunned the crowd.
In her statement, Sam said: “The entire audience were in a state of shock. As the two of them took to the floor to do their dance off, they weren’t greeted with the usual warm applause and support from the crowd, such was the tension, surprise and awkwardness in the studio.”
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Amy had returned to the Strictly cast this year as she was forced to miss the 2023 edition of the show after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Amy has bravely shared details of her health journey and Sam revealed the dancer’s comment after she found herself in the bottom two.
The Merseyside native explained: “Amy turned around to the audience and said, ‘Come on folks… it’s just a dance off… it’s not a year of chemotherapy!'” Sam said this was a reminder of the true important things in life.
She added: “A sobering reminder that there are bigger and more important things going around the world then Strictly Come Dancing… amongst the glitz, glamour, twirls and lifts you can sometimes forget that. I look forward to whatever my future holds and thank you all for the amazing support and well wishes throughout my Strictly experience.”
Amy shared a tribute to Sam after the update as the Welsh dancer said: “Beautiful human and a beautiful dancer! Loved this partnership so much.”
Amy was dealt a devastating blow this week as she has pulled out of the remainder of this season of Strictly. The 34-year-old dancer will not return to this year’s series as she focuses on her recovery following a foot injury.
JB will now be paired with professional Lauren Oakley, who had been without a celebrity this year and stepped in to replace Amy on last weekend’s show. A spokesperson for Strictly said: “Sadly, Amy Dowden MBE will not be partaking in the rest of the competition this year. Whilst Amy focuses on her recovery following a foot injury, fellow professional dancer Lauren Oakley will step in as JB’s dance partner.
“The health and wellbeing of everyone involved in Strictly are always the utmost priority. The whole Strictly family sends Amy love and well wishes.”
The news was announced on Monday evening during the show’s spin-off programme, Strictly: It Takes Two. On Saturday, Amy watched in the studio as JB and Lauren danced to a Bruno Mars medley and earned the joint highest score of this year’s series.
Amy had been taken ill during the live show the previous weekend and missed the Sunday results programme. She was taken to Barnet Hospital from the BBC One show’s production centre, Elstree Studios, as a “precaution” after “feeling unwell”, a spokesman for Amy said at the time.
Last year, Amy found a lump in her breast while on her honeymoon in the Maldives with fellow professional dancer Ben Jones, and was unable to compete on Strictly. After treatment for stage three breast cancer, she announced in February that tests showed she had “no evidence of disease”.
